Ursa Major has chosen to stay in Colorado for a major expansion that would add about 1,850 new jobs, one of the largest projects to get tax incentives from the state in recent years.

The aerospace and rocket manufacturing company based in Berthoud confirmed with state officials it has chosen to keep its next project in Colorado, said Daniel Salvetti, the state’s leading semiconductor economic development official, during a Colorado Economic Development Commission meeting on Thursday.

In December, the EDC approved two sets of incentives for the company’s expansion including $35 million in job growth tax incentives and $8 million in CHIPS refundable tax credits. It approved another $15 million of the tax credits meant for semiconductor chip-related projects on Thursday after waiting on getting the company’s firm commitment.

The $15 million is all of the allocated amount allowed for the 2027 fiscal year and the EDC has already started to hold tax credits for 2028’s pool of funding to another locally based aerospace company looking to expand.

It’s among the last tax credits for semiconductor and manufacturing projects that the state had to give out before the end of 2028’s fiscal year. Colorado’s CHIPs program will have to wait to get more money from other awarded projects that don’t come through or get approval from the state legislature to renew the funding.

Ursa Major had until Aug. 1 to make a decision to earn the tax credits and formally declared its commitment last month.

Keeping an expansion of this size was incredibly important to the state’s economic officials to maintain Colorado’s credibility as an aerospace and defense hub.

“We want to maintain their headquarters and center of gravity in Colorado,” according to an EDC memo last year. “It is critical that we secure projects like this to ensure companies not only start here but are able to scale and stay here.”

Colorado’s Front Range is one of the largest aerospace hubs in the nation due to its central location, high elevation, universities and military bases.

Ursa Major was also considering going to Ohio, Mississippi or California.

Ursa Major stayed here because Colorado is home, the company’s CEO Chris Spagnoletti said in an emailed statement Thursday morning.

“We’re grateful for Colorado’s partnership and support as we expand,” he said. “The state has been a strong champion of our mission to revitalize the defense industrial base, and we’re proud to deliver the systems the warfighter needs from the Centennial State.”

The company has stated it wants to expand in the Denver metro area but did not clarify where its new facility will be yet when asked for comment, nor when it will open. 

Ursa Major was founded in 2015 and specializes in hypersonics, solid rocket motors, space mobility and launch.

The company has stated it’s pushing to grow up from a startup into a prime government contractor — especially as demand for rockets has grown in the U.S. and across the world.

Its goal is to build its munitions faster and cheaper.

Last November, Ursa Major raised $100 million in its Series E funding round to scale its missile production after winning more than $115 million in contracts in 2025. It finished one phase of its mission to scale the company in March with new expansion investments, according to a company news release.

The company constructed and began operating a new facility this year on a 400-acre site in Galeton, a Weld County community north of Greeley. The expansion in Galeton was designed to help expand the company’s missile capacity.

It has also increased its manufacturing abilities at its facility in Youngstown, Ohio, and doubled its multiaxis machining capacity, tripled its machine shop in size and expanded its vehicle assembly at its headquarters in Berthoud.

The company won a $10 million contract from the U.S. Navy on Wednesday to continue developing its MK 104 missile design.