There’s bold, and then there’s Venus Aerospace bold, the kind that doesn’t just aim for the sky, it burns through it. Founded in June 2020 by Sarah “Sassie” Duggleby (CEO) and Dr. Andrew Duggleby (CTO), Venus has gone from a sketch on a napkin overlooking Tokyo Bay to the first U.S. company with a flight-proven, high-thrust rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE). That’s not marketing spin, that’s physics turned poetry.
When Lockheed Martin Ventures drops a strategic investment into your orbit, it’s not just validation, it’s gravitational pull. This move isn’t about hype; it’s about horsepower. Venus’ RDRE tech doesn’t sip fuel, it detonates it, using continuous supersonic shock waves to squeeze every ounce of efficiency out of propellant. They’re already clocking efficiency in the upper 90th percentile and shaving double-digit % off traditional engine losses. Translation: more thrust, less waste, faster world.
Sarah Duggleby’s journey from Virgin Orbit to building one of the most capital-efficient propulsion startups in history reads like an engineering masterclass with a touch of stubborn Texas grit. Dr. Andrew Duggleby, a PhD rocket scientist and Navy Reserve officer, turned theory into fire with a 2K-lb thrust engine that actually flew, 4,400 ft, 7 seconds of burn, and one hell of a data set. That’s not a test, that’s proof of concept.
Lockheed’s stake accelerates the scale-up, production readiness, defense integration, and a roadmap that ends with hypersonic flight from Houston to Tokyo in under an hour. This is where aerospace meets inevitability. Venus isn’t just building engines; they’re reprogramming what’s possible in defense, space, and commercial transport.
They’ve already raised 106M+, with backers like Prime Movers Lab, Airbus Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, and America’s Frontier Fund. The team’s stacked: Tom Barron steering ops with Pentagon precision, Brian Heckler keeping the numbers airtight, and NASA legend Pamela Melroy joining the board, because when your tech touches Mach 9, you want astronauts in the room.
This partnership with Lockheed Martin Ventures isn’t the endgame, it’s the ignition. Venus Aerospace just proved that the future of flight won’t crawl forward; it’s going to detonate.