Venus aerospace debuts potentially revolutionary rocket engine with milestone (video)

The Houston-based startup Venus Aerospace has completed the first test flight of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in the USA.

The start took place on Wednesday (May 14th) from the space porter America in New Mexico. A small rocket, which was equipped with Venus' RDRE, was withdrawn at 9:37 a.m. Edt (1337 GMT; 7:37 a.m. local time in New Mexico).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 a motor from US floor and brought Venus a step closer to the high-speed flight, affordable and sustainable, “said the company in a statement.

The Venus Aerospace carried out the first test flight on May 14, 2025 with its rotating detonation rocket engine. (Photo credit: Venus Aerospace)

“This is the moment we have been working on for five years,” said Sassie Duggleby, CEO of Venus, in the explanation.

The test serves as proof of the design for Venus' RDRE and keeps the company up to date on the based high -speed flight. “We have proven that this technology does not work only in simulations or the laboratory, but also in the air.”

The Venus RDRE uses a compact, highly efficient design that the company hopes to ultimately supply aircraft up to macht 6 times the sound speed from conventional landingways. Compared to conventional rocket engines, RDRS offer a larger thrust in smaller packages, but so far the technology has been largely theoretical.

Normally, rocket engines burn fuel in a combustion chamber in a constant, controlled process. RDRS use a continuous detonation wave that walks into a circle in a circle within a ring -shaped chamber that leads to higher pressure and efficiency and leads to an increased thrust with less fuel.

“This milestone proves that our engine works outside the laboratory under real flight conditions,” said Venus CTO Andrew Dugggugy in the same explanation. “We built an engine that not only runs, but also runs reliably and efficiently – and that makes it scalable.”

The RDRE is designed in such a way that it can work with VDR2-air detonation Ramjet-a combination that the company says that it will enable a sustainable hyperschall flight without a booster. (The hyperschall flight is generally defined as Mach 5 and higher.)

“This is the basis we need that, in combination with a ramjet, completes the system from start to continuing hyperschall flight,” said Andrew Duggleby.

With the successful test in the books, Venus plans a complete drive test of her integrated system to qualify the design of his future Stargazer M4, a reusable passenger plane that Mach 4 can achieve.

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