Latest news with #VenusAerospace
Forbes
30-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Secret To Leading Innovation With Thriving Teams Is Hidden Grit
We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy We don't do this because it's easy. We do this because we thought it would be easy. That line came to me in a meme from a colleague during one of the hardest stretches of my time on the leadership team at Venus Aerospace, a company developing reusable hypersonic aircraft designed to fly you across the Pacific in under two hours. I now serve as an advisor to the company, but back then I was deep in the day-to-day: capital uncertainty, shifting priorities, and scenario planning for what felt like the 14th time. No one signs up for a moonshot to argue over budget spreadsheets. They join to build. But that week, belief felt like the scarcest resource of all. I remembered that meme again last week, when Venus completed a historic flight test of its Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine, becoming the first U.S. company to prove this next-gen propulsion system in the air. A huge technical win. Rightfully celebrated. But for those of us who've been inside the effort, it didn't feel like a singular moment of triumph. It felt like a quiet exhale shared between people who had endured the technical gauntlet—and the emotional one—and held on when it would've been easier not to. The technology is brutally hard. But trying to build something unprecedented—without breaking the people building it—adds a second, quieter layer of difficulty. Everyone knows this kind of work is difficult. But we still misunderstand where the difficulty lies. We assume the challenge is technical complexity. But in reality, it's the emotional and relational toll of doing something under pressure, without precedent, and with limited room for error. That misunderstanding doesn't just distort expectations. It makes success more rare—because it causes people to give up too soon. Here's what I've learned about what actually makes hard things hard. At a startup doing something new, nothing is established. Not just the product—the roles, the systems, the culture—it's all being built in real time. That ambiguity can fuel creativity, but it can also drain morale. Decisions that would be defaults in a mature company become full-blown debates. Passionate people burn out solving problems they weren't hired for. A colleague on the executive team once said: 'The definition of great work is solving difficult problems with non-difficult people.' But when the problem is hard enough, even the best people become difficult—not because they're wrong, but because it's costing them. That's when story becomes your most important leadership tool. When belief starts to fray, the story you tell—about what you're doing and why—either sustains you or breaks you. It doesn't mean ignoring reality. But it does mean guarding attention. Because attention is social. And if 'this is broken' becomes the dominant narrative, it doesn't just describe the problem—it magnifies it. Leadership in those moments means choosing what not to amplify. In a company growing fast and flying blind, every stage demands new skills. And usually, no one is fully ready—including the leaders. Some thrive in early chaos but stall when structure is needed. Others bring polish but struggle without resources. If you lead too far ahead, you build what you can't afford. If you lead from behind, you stall progress. You have to do two things at once: This is especially true for founders. Yes, they enter rooms few ever access. But they also carry the weight. People expect them to believe harder, fix faster, and stay composed—while learning on the fly. Sometimes that means firing friends. Sometimes it means ignoring well-meaning advice. Sometimes it just means showing up—again—when you're not sure you're enough. One of Venus' most strategic breakthroughs wasn't technical—it was logistical. The industry assumes engine testing has to happen in remote areas. But we asked: What if we could test on-site? That single question—born of necessity—let us test faster, cheaper, and more frequently than anyone else. It wasn't genius. It was constraint reimagined. When pressure is unrelenting, what holds people together isn't just shared goals. It's shared humanity. Late nights around the founders' dinner table—debating fantasy novels, defending the brilliance of Highlander—became rituals that sustained us. Jokes from those nights found their way into slide decks. We awarded prizes for the best dad jokes. When one teammate suffered a personal loss, the team rallied with tears and resolve. Often, it wasn't strategy that kept someone from walking away. It was being talked off the ledge by a friend who didn't even like you at first—but who now understood exactly what you were carrying. You play every card you've got. And you just hope you don't run out too soon. Funny enough, this isn't just a story about rocket engines (what an interesting sentence to write, by the way). It's about the human engine behind every breakthrough—and what it really takes to lead through the fog. So yes, we're proud of the technical win. But I'm just as proud of what didn't make the press release: Because the truth is: we didn't really think it would be easy. We just hoped it would be worth it. Turns out, it is. When the world moves faster than most teams can process, the leaders who will matter most aren't just the ones who can think clearly. They're the ones who can stay human—when it would be easier not to.
Forbes
29-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
For Leaders Who Thought It Would Be Easier—The Other Press Release…
We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy We don't do this because it's easy. We do this because we thought it would be easy. That line came to me in a meme from a colleague at Venus during one of the hardest stretches of my time on the leadership team at Venus Aerospace, a company developing reusable hypersonic aircraft designed to fly you across the Pacific in under two hours. I now serve as an advisor to the company, but back then I was deep in the day-to-day: capital uncertainty, shifting priorities, and scenario planning for what felt like the 14th time. No one signs up for a moonshot to argue over budget spreadsheets. They join to build. But that week, belief felt like the scarcest resource of all. I remembered that meme again last week, when Venus completed a historic flight test of its Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE), becoming the first U.S. company—and perhaps the first in the world—to prove this next-gen propulsion system in the air. It made international headlines. A huge technical win. Rightfully celebrated. But for those of us who've been inside the effort, it didn't feel like a singular moment of triumph. It felt like a quiet exhale shared between people who had endured who had endured the technical gauntlet—and the emotional one—and held on when it would've been easier not to. The technology is brutally hard. But trying to build something unprecedented—without breaking the people building it—adds a second, quieter layer of difficulty. Everyone knows this kind of work is difficult. But we still misunderstand where the difficulty lies. We assume the challenge is technical complexity. But in reality, it's the emotional and relational toll of doing something under pressure, without precedent, and with limited room for error. That misunderstanding doesn't just distort expectations. It makes success more rare—because it causes people to give up too soon. Here's what I've learned about what actually makes hard things hard. At a startup doing something new, nothing is established. Not just the product—the roles, the systems, the culture—it's all being built in real time. That ambiguity can fuel creativity, but it can also drain morale. Decisions that would be defaults in a mature company become full-blown debates. Passionate people burn out solving problems they weren't hired for. Curt Steinhorst as a Venus Executive Leader A colleague on the executive team once said: 'The definition of great work is solving difficult problems with non-difficult people.' But when the problem is hard enough, even the best people become difficult—not because they're wrong, but because it's costing them. That's when story becomes your most important leadership tool. When belief starts to fray, the story you tell—about what you're doing and why—either sustains you or breaks you. It doesn't mean ignoring reality. But it does mean guarding attention. Because attention is social. And if 'this is broken' becomes the dominant narrative, it doesn't just describe the problem—it magnifies it. Leadership in those moments means choosing what not to amplify. In a company growing fast and flying blind, every stage demands new skills. And usually, no one is fully ready—including the leaders. Some thrive in early chaos but stall when structure is needed. Others bring polish but struggle without resources. If you lead too far ahead, you build what you can't afford. If you lead from behind, you stall progress. You have to do two things at once: This is especially true for founders. Yes, they enter rooms few ever access. But they also carry the weight. People expect them to believe harder, fix faster, and stay composed—while learning on the fly. Sometimes that means firing friends. Sometimes it means ignoring well-meaning advice. Sometimes it just means showing up—again—when you're not sure you're enough. One of Venus' most strategic breakthroughs wasn't technical—it was logistical. The industry assumes engine testing has to happen in remote areas. But we asked: What if we could test on-site? That single question—born of necessity—let us test faster, cheaper, and more frequently than anyone else. It wasn't genius. It was constraint reimagined. When pressure is unrelenting, what holds people together isn't just shared goals. It's shared humanity. Late nights around the founders' dinner table—debating fantasy novels, defending the brilliance of Highlander—became rituals that sustained us. Jokes from those nights found their way into slide decks. We awarded prizes for the best dad jokes. When one teammate suffered a personal loss, the team rallied with tears and resolve. Often, it wasn't strategy that kept someone from walking away. It was being talked off the ledge by a friend who didn't even like you at first—but who now understood exactly what you were carrying. You play every card you've got. And you just hope you don't run out too soon. Funny enough, this isn't just a story about rocket engines (what an interesting sentence to write, by the way). It's about the human engine behind every breakthrough—and what it really takes to lead through the fog. So yes, we're proud of the technical win. But I'm just as proud of what didn't make the press release: Because the truth is: we didn't really think it would be easy. We just hoped it would be worth it. Turns out, it is. When the world moves faster than most teams can process, the leaders who will matter most aren't just the ones who can think clearly. They're the ones who can stay human—when it would be easier not to.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Supersonic jet set to release in 2030 will take passengers from New York to London in less than 60 minutes
Supersonic travel is moving closer to reality, after a successful test by a Texas startup that could one day fly passengers from New York to Paris in just 55 minutes. Venus Aerospace completed the world's first atmospheric test of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE), a breakthrough propulsion system that uses spinning explosions instead of steady combustion to generate thrust. The test took place on Wednesday, May 14, at Spaceport America in New Mexico, where a small rocket equipped with the new engine lifted off at 7:37am local time. Venus CEO Sassie Duggleby said: 'This is the moment we've been working toward for five years.' The company plans to use the engine for its upcoming hypersonic jet, Stargazer, which is expected to reach Mach 4 (3,069 mph), four times the speed of sound. If approved for commercial travel, the $33 million jet could complete the 3,625-mile journey between New York and Paris in under an hour, nearly three times faster than the Concorde, which flew at 1,354 mph. The current flight takes about eight hours. Venus Aerospace aims to launch the aircraft in the early 2030s, with plans to carry up to 12 passengers per flight. Compared to traditional rocket engines, RDREs offer improved efficiency and compactness, making them particularly suited for advanced aerospace applications. 'We've proven that this technology works—not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air,' Duggleby said. 'With this milestone, we're one step closer to making high-speed flight accessible, affordable, and sustainable.' Theorized since the 1980s, a high-thrust RDRE capable of practical application has never been flown in a real-world test. Andrew Duggleby, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, said: 'Rotating detonation has been a long-sought gain in performance. 'Venus' RDRE solved the last but critical steps to harness the theoretical benefits of pressure gain combustion. We've built an engine that not only runs, but runs reliably and efficiently—and that's what makes it scalable. 'This is the foundation we need that, combined with a ramjet, completes the system from take-off to sustained hypersonic flight.' Venus's RDRE is also engineered to work with the company's exclusive VDR2 air-breathing detonation ramjet, an advanced propulsion system. If approved for commercial travel, the $33 million jet could complete the 3,625-mile journey between New York and Paris in under an hour, nearly three times faster than the Concorde, which flew at 1,354 mph It uses rotating detonation technology to achieve extremely high speeds, potentially Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound or more. It pulls in air from the atmosphere instead of carrying oxygen onboard like a rocket does. Instead of slow burning, it relies on supersonic shock waves from detonations to move air and fuel through the engine rapidly. 'This pairing enables aircraft to take off from a runway and transition to speeds exceeding Mach 6, maintaining hypersonic cruise without the need for rocket boosters,' Venus shared in a statement. 'Venus is planning full-scale propulsion testing and vehicle integration of this system, moving toward their ultimate goal: the Stargazer M4, a Mach 4 reusable passenger aircraft.' If Stargazer comes to fruition, it will be the first passenger-carrying commercial airplane to go faster than the speed of sound since Concorde. Retired more than 20 years ago, Concorde flew at a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet. According to Venus Aerospace, its upcoming plane will not only be faster but will fly higher – up to 110,000 feet. Just like Concorde passengers almost a quarter of a century ago, Stargazer passengers will be high enough to see the curvature of Earth. This is where the horizon is a slight curve rather than a straight line, normally seen from 50,000 feet.
Gizmodo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Texas Startup's Wild New ‘Exploding' Rocket Aces First Flight Test
The U.S. is one step closer to achieving hypersonic flight after Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based propulsion company, successfully launched a test of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) on Wednesday, May 14. The company claims it is the first U.S.-based test of this technology, which is finally coming to fruition after decades of research and development. Eventually, RDREs could power high-speed aircraft capable of traveling more than six times the speed of sound, Venus Aerospace stated in its announcement. 'We've spent approximately four years and a portion of our $84 million in venture funding to take the RDRE from academic theory to flight-proven engine,' Sarah 'Sassie' Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace, told Gizmodo in an emailed statement. 'What makes the RDRE remarkable isn't just that it works—but that it's orders of magnitude more affordable than traditional propulsion systems,' she added. The company launched a small rocket equipped with this 2,000-pound-thrust (roughly 907 kilograms) engine from Spaceport America in New Mexico. According to Aerospace America, the duffel-bag sized engine propelled a small rocket to an altitude of 4,400 feet (1,341 meters) and burned for seven seconds, pushing the rocket to about 383 miles (616 kilometers) per hour—roughly half the speed of sound. The aircraft flew for about 30 seconds, then touched down with a gentle parachute landing, and recovery crews retrieved it, Aerospace America reports. Theorized since the 1980s, RDREs are designed to be highly efficient and compact. This allows them to produce more thrust with the same amount of fuel as a traditional combustion engine, which combines highly pressurized propellant with an oxidizer inside a combustion chamber and burns them to produce a steady stream of exhaust that propels the aircraft forward. Instead of exhaust, vehicles with RDREs are propelled by shockwaves. These engines use a sustained injection of fuel and oxidizer to create a wave of continuous explosions—or detonations—that travel around a circular channel. This produces a shockwave that shoots out the back of the aircraft at supersonic speed. This technology has the potential to drastically reduce flight time, improve fuel efficiency, and reduce costs across multiple sectors—including military, commercial, and spaceflight systems—Venus Aerospace claims. 'Compared to traditional jet or rocket engines, our RDRE is up to 10 times cheaper to build and operate,' Duggleby said. 'That's because it has no moving parts, runs on storable fuels, and can be 3D-printed in about a week. As we scale into production and licensing, we expect the cost curve to continue to improve,' she added. Once commercially available, RDREs could allow governments and companies to manufacture hypersonic weapons at a fraction of the cost of current versions, Andrew Duggleby, CTO and co-founder of Venus Aerospace, told Aerospace America. What's more, these engines could launch space payloads four times larger than the current technology is capable of, he said. Achieving sustained hypersonic flight has been the company's goal since it was founded by Sassie and her husband Andrew in 2020. They foresee a bright future for the global hypersonics market, projecting it to surpass $12 billion by 2030 due to multi-industry demand. But they still have a long way to go before their RDRE can power sustained hypersonic flight. Following last week's successful test flight, Venus Aerospace plans to conduct a thorough post-flight analysis to evaluate the engine's performance and inform future iterations, Sassie Duggleby said. The company, she added, aims to have operational RDRE systems by the early 2030s. In the meantime, it will focus on scaling the technology up, honing in on its best applications, and engaging with potential investors—including U.S. defense and national security agencies, as well as commercial customers. So, the future isn't here quite yet. But last week's test flight marks a major step towards bringing this highly powerful propulsion system out of the realm of science fiction and into reality.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Venus Aerospace debuts potentially revolutionary rocket engine with landmark 1st flight (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Houston-based startup Venus Aerospace has completed the first-ever test flight of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in the United States. The launch took place on Wednesday (May 14) from Spaceport America in New Mexico. A small rocket equipped with Venus' RDRE lifted off at 9:37 a.m. EDT (1337 GMT; 7:37 a.m. local time in New Mexico). The milestone marked the first successful test of such an engine from U.S. soil and took Venus a "step closer to making high-speed flight accessible, affordable and sustainable," the company said in a statement. "This is the moment we've been working toward for five years," Venus CEO Sassie Duggleby said in the statement. The test serves as a proof of design for Venus's RDRE and keeps the company on track for runway-based high-speed flight, she added: "We've proven that this technology works — not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air." The Venus RDRE uses a compact, high-efficiency design the company hopes can eventually power aircraft up to Mach 6 — six times the speed of sound — starting from conventional runways. Compared to traditional rocket engines, RDREs offer greater thrust in smaller packages, but up until now the technology has been mostly theoretical. Normally, rocket engines burn fuel in a combustion chamber in a steady, controlled process. RDREs use a continuous detonation wave that travels in a circle within a ring-shaped chamber, which produces higher pressure and efficiency and results in increased thrust with less fuel. Related stories: — US Army launches hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — Space Force aims to launch 1st 'Foo Fighter' satellites in 2027 to track hypersonic threats — Stratolaunch's Talon-A2 prototype goes hypersonic after dropping from world's largest airplane (photos) "This milestone proves our engine works outside the lab, under real flight conditions," Venus CTO Andrew Duggleby said in the same statement. "We've built an engine that not only runs, but runs reliably and efficiently — and that's what makes it scalable." The RDRE is designed to work in tandem with Venus's VDR2 air-breathing detonation ramjet — a combination the company says will enable sustained hypersonic flight without the need for a booster. (Hypersonic flight is generally defined as Mach 5 and above.) "This is the foundation we need that, combined with a ramjet, completes the system from takeoff to sustained hypersonic flight," Andrew Duggleby said. With the successful test in the books, Venus is planning full-scale propulsion test of their integrated system as it moves to qualify the design of its future Stargazer M4, a reusable passenger aircraft capable of reaching Mach 4.
