Houston Start-Up Developing Hypersonic Global Travel

Airbus Ventures has announced its investment in Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based hypersonic startup developing a means by which to cost-effectively transport materials across the globe in as little as one-hour. Joining an extant team of investors in the enterprise, Airbus Ventures will lend financial support to the ongoing maturation of Venus Aerospace’s hypersonic scheme.

Founded in 2016, Airbus Ventures is a Menlo Park, California-headquartered subsidiary of Airbus Group. A fast-moving, early-stage venture capital concern, Airbus Ventures invests primarily in aerospace start-ups.

Venus Aerospace CEO and co-founder Sassie Duggleby stated: “Venus has developed the world’s first liquid-propellant Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) with a double-digit percentage increase in efficiency over standard regular engines, making the hypersonic economy possible.”

Ms. Duggleby added: “We’re delighted to bring Airbus Ventures into the Venus family and look forward to growing our collaboration as we harness the future of hypersonic flight.”

NASA and unnamed U.S. defense agencies have contracted Venus Aerospace to accelerate the development and transition of its RDRE technology for purpose of enhancing existing government missions. In addition to its atmospheric hypersonic applications, Venus’s inchoate architectures facilitate improvements in the efficiency of space-travel.

Airbus Ventures managing partner Thomas d’Halluin set forth: “We are thrilled to welcome Sassie, Andrew, and the entire Venus team into the Airbus Ventures portfolio. In the world of RDREs, their pioneering approach—designing, building, and demonstrating the first liquid-storable-propellant-fueled, rotating detonation rocket engine—unlocks advanced aircraft capabilities and opens new vistas on our whole planetary system. Venus’s compact, low mass, high efficiency engine capability will have an immediate impact on lunar and Martian landers, space mobility and logistics, and deep-space mission proposals. Here on Earth today, we will see unprecedented performance gains for drones of all kinds, and more practical and faster-than-anticipated opportunities for ultra-high-speed passenger and cargo rocket plane flights.”

Venus Aerospace co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Dr. Andrew Duggleby remarked: “With the strong support of Airbus Ventures now joining our investor syndicate, our next round will let Venus take the final step from lab to prototype as we fly our drone to Mach-three under RDRE power. This will include long-duration engine runs this summer at Spaceport Houston, as well as the design, build, and flight of our drone with the broader Venus team and our incredible partners.”

In spring 2022, the Venus Aerospace raised its $20-million Series A, led by Prime Movers Lab, to fund engine development and subscale initial flight testing for building its Mach-nine hypersonic drone and Mach-nine spacecraft—both of which are ostensibly capable of traversing the globe in one-hour.

FMI: www.venusaero.com