HIBT Lab! Ursa Major: Joe Laurienti

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joe Laurienti, a former SpaceX and Blue Origin engineer, launched Ursa Major in 2015 with the idea that 3D printing could revolutionize the production of rocket engines.

The timing was right: Russia had invaded Crimea the previous year. American sanctions and strained political relationships threatened the supply of Russian rocket engines, which the U.S. had relied on for space missions since the end of the Cold War. American companies like Ursa Major have now begun providing rocket engines for both government and private space endeavors.

This week on How I Built This Lab, Joe talks with Guy about the journey of launching and scaling a multimillion dollar aerospace company. Plus, how Joe has dealt with the infamous “startup valley of death” and how Ursa Major’s engines are helping the U.S. catch up to Russia and China in the development of hypersonic weapons.

This episode was produced by Chris Maccini and edited by John Isabella, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Maggie Luthar.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	What if the greatest tragedy of your life was just covered up?
0:12.0	I have never seen anything like that before or after.
0:15.0	This is the story of the worst marine-on-marine friendly fire in modern history.
0:20.0	A story kept from the public.
0:22.0	It's like, what did y'all have to hide?
0:24.0	Listen to NPR's embedded podcast and its latest series, taking cover.
0:31.0	Hello and welcome to How I Built This Lab. I'm Guy Ross.
0:35.0	So if you want to launch something into space, say a communication satellite or supplies from the International Space Station,
0:43.0	you have to put it obviously on top of a giant rocket and rockets are powered by rocket engines.
0:50.0	Now for the past three decades or so, the United States government has basically been relying on rocket engines that are made in Russia,
0:59.0	which creates a problem when there are geopolitical conflicts like the war in Ukraine.
1:04.0	Now you've probably heard about private space companies like SpaceX or Blue Origin owned by billionaires like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.
1:12.0	Those companies are offering an alternative, rockets and engines that are designed and built in the United States,
1:19.0	but building one of these rockets can take years and they're often plagued with delays.
1:25.0	So my guest today, Joe Lorienti, is looking to help both government and private space companies address their rocket engines' supply problems,
1:34.0	in part by using 3D printing to build rocket engines in the United States, and to build them much faster than they would be with traditional manufacturing.
1:45.0	But unlike Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, Joe Lorienti is not a billionaire. In fact, he founded his company Ursa Major just four years after graduating from college with a degree in aerospace engineering.
1:58.0	Joe grew up in Colorado and an aerospace family. His dad worked for ball aerospace and as a kid, Joe was always fascinated with rockets and space.
2:08.0	I was obsessed. I don't think I knew if I wanted to work on rockets or satellites or airplanes. I just I loved it all.
2:15.0	I probably vacillated between wanting to be an astronaut or a pilot or an engineer constantly. And eventually the mechanical and kind of hands-on piece won me over.
	...

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