A new research & development (R&D) center focused on rocket propulsion is on its way to the Mahoning Valley.

21 News sat down with Ursa Major, a privately funded company focused on rocket propulsion, who is establishing a new R&D center in the Boardman to advance additive manufacturing and materials development technology for liquid rocket engines and solid rocket motors.

The company focuses on 3D printed hardware for propulsion systems including liquid rocket engines and solid rocket motors.

"Liquid rocket engines and solid rocket motors power platforms that are essential for America's security, including high-performance munitions, hypersonic weapons, in-space propulsion systems, and space launch. Ursa Major is expanding its R&D efforts to meet a rapidly growing portfolio of U.S. Department of Defense development contracts," the company said in a release.

Ursa Major Chief Operating Officer Nick Doucette tells 21 News the company has been in Ohio for a few years now starting with one individual to stand up 3D printing as a "center of excellence" for manufacturing in the state.

"Fast forward, that center of excellence has grown to three people and increased the number of machines it has, it has three 3D printers there now and we're launching into a new facility to grow that machine base by several more machines over the next year or two," Doucette said.

According to a press release from Ursa Major, that number could further increase to 18 people in the coming years.

The Boardman center is a part of a $14.5 million capital investment, which includes $4 million in assistance from an R&D grant from JobsOhio. Doucette tells 21 News their relationship with JobsOhio and this grant has in the works for about a year or so, but the company's Youngstown presence dates back even further.

"We've been working with them and sort of shaping how this is going to play out, but it really goes back a couple of years to us putting a flag down in Youngstown," Ducette said.

In terms of job creation, Ducette tells us this new center is expected to create about 15 jobs over the next few years including engineers and other "hands-on technical labor" jobs.

"Printed hardware doesn't stop with just the actual physical printing. There's additional steps afterwards, so we'll increase the roles and headcounts to sort of support the post processing, and then we'll add a few other pretty standard overhead roles to support the team and make sure they're getting what they need," Ducette said.

When it comes to environmental impacts, Ducette says he doesn't have any environmental concerns with the center's operations.

"[3D printing] does use powdered metal, which is transferred out of the facility. Unfortunately, powdered metal if not handled well can be dangerous, but the industry has done a very, very good job in the last decade of creating safe practices of how to handle, store, transport and manage powdered metal. We go through a recycling process and we handle that with a third party. I'm very happy with how we established that from day one," Ducette said.

No timeframe was given for when this center would open.