U.S. propulsion company Ursa Major has secured a $10.9 million contract option from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to continue developing its Draper liquid rocket engine, following two flights of an experimental missile demonstrator powered by the system.The funding will advance Draper, a storable liquid-propellant engine designed for hypersonic applications. The latest award builds on a $28.6 million AFRL contract announced in May 2025, under which Ursa Major was tasked with maturing the engine and integrating it into a flight demonstrator.The new option follows successful flights of the Affordable Rapid Missile Demonstrator (ARMD), which uses Draper as its propulsion system. AFRL and Ursa Major first announced a flight demonstration in March 2026, reporting that the vehicle reached supersonic speeds. A follow-on flight took place approximately 45 days later, expanding the demonstrator’s flight envelope and testing the engine’s performance and control during different phases of flight.The flights are an important development milestone, but they should not be confused with a publicly confirmed hypersonic flight. AFRL described the March demonstration as supersonic, while the program’s broader objective is to develop propulsion technology for future high-speed weapons and test vehicles.Why Draper uses storable liquid propellantsDraper is designed to combine some of the operational advantages of solid rocket motors with the control offered by liquid propulsion. According to Ursa Major, the engine produces approximately 4,000 pounds of thrust and uses hydrogen peroxide and kerosene in a closed catalyst cycle.Unlike cryogenic propellants, which require specialized temperature-controlled storage, Draper’s propellants can be stored at room temperature. The company says they can remain stored for years, allowing a vehicle to be prepared for launch without first loading or conditioning its fuel.The engine is also throttleable, meaning its thrust can be adjusted during flight. It can also restart multiple times, according to the company. These features offer greater control over a vehicle’s flight profile than a conventional solid rocket motor, which generally burns at a predetermined rate once ignited.That flexibility could be useful for hypersonic test vehicles, which need to reproduce the changing speed and maneuverability of advanced threats. It could also support future tactical weapons that require more control over their propulsion during flight.From flight demonstrator to future weaponsThe ARMD program is intended to demonstrate how quickly a new propulsion system and missile-like vehicle can be developed, integrated, and flown. Ursa Major said the first ARMD flight came about eight months after the contract began, while the second demonstrated a rapid turnaround between missions.Draper is also central to the company’s broader hypersonics portfolio. In February 2026, Ursa Major unveiled the HAVOC missile system, describing it as a medium-range hypersonic weapon powered by the Draper engine. The company says HAVOC can throttle and restart during different phases of flight and is designed for potential launches from aircraft, ships, and ground-based systems. These are company-stated design capabilities, not evidence that the weapon has entered operational service.Ursa Major is also developing the Hadley liquid rocket engine, which has powered Stratolaunch’s Talon-A2 hypersonic test vehicle. The company reported in April 2026 that Hadley had completed 10 successful flights, including missions at sustained hypersonic speeds.The latest AFRL funding therefore supports more than an isolated engine-development effort. It advances a propulsion architecture that Ursa Major is seeking to apply across test vehicles and future weapons.However, the $10.9 million award remains a development milestone. The company and AFRL have not publicly disclosed a fielding schedule for an operational Draper-powered weapon, and the latest announcement does not establish that HAVOC is ready for deployment.