Engineering the Future of Aviation
At VENUS Aerospace we are building the world’s first Spaceplane that can fly at hypersonic speeds at the edge of the atmosphere. A Spaceplane that can take off from LAX and land in Tokyo in an hour…and then make the return flight to get you home for dinner.
Our team is solving the thousands of problems that make hypersonic travel possible. We’re engineering innovative aircraft shapes, heat shields, flight mechanics, and so much more. This is all supported by our next generation zero-carbon emission hypersonic engine.
The future of aviation is Faster, Farther, and Cleaner.
This isn’t easy. This is Rocket Science.
The Venus Executive Team
Sassie Duggleby
Andrew Duggleby
Dr. Andrew Duggleby is the CTO and co-founder of Venus Aerospace, a U.S. Lieutenant Commander and an engineering professor. Before launching Venus, he was head of launch operations at Virgin Orbit where he led operational planning, mission control, telemetry, ground equipment, launch infrastructure, and payload operations teams. He also led a team of engineers and technicians to hotfire the first dual-mode 3D print (DMLS printed and DED cladded) rocket engine, in collaboration with NASA MSFC. Dr. Duggleby was a Mechanical Engineering Asst. Professor at Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. He founded Exosent Engineering with a former student, making ASME-rated hazardous transport trailers, and exited in 2015 to pursue his space passion. A Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he has multiple deployments to Japan (shipyard repair), and multiple commanding officer tours of US-based reserve maintenance units. Would love to get more PhDs but his wife won’t let him.
Brent Lytle
Advisory Team
Mitch Kugler
Mandy Vaughn
Mandy Vaughn is the CEO & Founder of GXO, Inc. and has served on the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group since 2018. Formerly, she helped create VOX Space and then served as its President. She was Senior Director of Business Development and Mission Management for Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne program. At General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Space and Intelligence Systems Directorate, she was responsible for space control and space protection investment portfolios. A developmental engineer and program manager in the Air Force, Vaughn supported programs in the Space Superiority Systems Directorate at Los Angeles AFB.
Eric Ries
Eric Ries is the founder and CEO of the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE). The LTSE is building a new national securities exchange designed to transform the public company experience for businesses that are built-to-last. He is an entrepreneur and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, and of The Startup Way. Eric is the creator of the Lean Startup methodology, a global movement in business, practiced by individuals and companies around the world, and the inspiration behind his founding of the LTSE. He has founded a number of startups, including IMVU, where he served as CTO, and he has advised on business and product strategy for startups, venture capital firms, and large companies, including GE, with whom he partnered to create the FastWorks program. Eric has served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School, IDEO, and Pivotal. In 2015, he ran a Kickstarter campaign to produce The Leader’s Guide, which went on to become one of the top Kickstarter book campaigns of all time.