Venus Aerospace today announced eight leadership additions, new hires and internal promotions spanning government, product and operations. The moves follow the company's $91 million Series B, announced last week. 

Venus flew the world's first high-thrust RDRE in May 2025. Venus' RDRE architecture is designed for the range, efficiency and manufacturability that defense and space customers need as legacy systems struggle to keep pace with production timelines and supply chain constraints. The leadership additions announced today are built to carry that architecture toward deployment: product leadership to mature engineering into a full propulsion system, government relationships to navigate policy, procurement and to engage the end users who will fly and operate this technology, and operational depth to build the organization Venus needs as it moves toward that goal. 

Lane Bodian joins as Vice President of Public Policy, and Dan Rebnord joins as Director of Federal Government Relations, leading Venus' engagement with government stakeholders as the company advances its technology for defense and space missions. They join a team that has grown steadily over the past year, including Matt Stohr, Head of Business Development, and Sheila Menz, General Counsel. 

Tom Barron, previously Vice President of Operations, becomes Chief Operating Officer. Nick Cardwell, previously Vice President of Research and Development, becomes Chief Product Officer. Both promotions reflect the depth Venus has built internally as its technology and organization have grown. 

Cameron Taylor joins as Vice President of Operations. Sarah Boland Heine joins as Head of Communications. 

"We flew the world's first high-thrust RDRE in just over four years on $80 million. We believe that makes it the fastest, most capital-efficient rocket engine program in history," said Sassie Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace. "Adding this talent to our leadership team is how we bring that same discipline to the company itself, as we scale to meet the technical needs of defense and space customers who need range and speed legacy systems can't deliver." 

Lane Bodian, Vice President of Public Policy 

Lane Bodian brings significant experience shaping national security policy to lead the company’s government affairs strategy. He previously served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs at the Pentagon and spent over 12 years in the U.S. Senate working on foreign and domestic policy. He holds a master's degree from the U.S. Army War College and a bachelor's degree from Franklin & Marshall College. 

Dan Rebnord, Director of Federal Government Relations 
Dan Rebnord has spent more than a decade working national security issues on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch, most recently as Senior Policy Advisor to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, with additional service in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Department of Defense and as Staff Director for a national security subcommittee in the House of Representatives. He holds a master's degree from Georgetown University's Security Studies Program and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis. 

Tom Barron, Chief Operating Officer 
Tom Barron's career spans commercial, government and military experience. He previously served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, and was a White House Fellow at the Domestic Policy Council. He also served aerospace clients as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. He began his career as a U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces officer with multiple combat and operational deployments in leadership and command positions. He holds an A.B. from Harvard University and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. 

Nick Cardwell, PhD, Chief Product Officer 
Before joining Venus, Nick Cardwell held product and technology leadership roles at deep tech VC-backed companies in San Francisco bay area and Austin, TX, working across product and technology development in aerospace, energy, biotech and smart cities. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Tyler and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. 

Cameron Taylor, Vice President of Operations 
Cameron Taylor joins Venus with broad experience across commercial and operations functions, strategy and product management. Before joining Venus, Cameron worked at Crown Castle as the Vice President of Sales and Commercial Operations. He began his career as a U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence officer with multiple global deployments. He holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. 

Sarah Boland Heine, Head of Communications 
Sarah Boland Heine’s experience spans political campaigns, national advocacy organizations and strategic consulting. As a founding member of the executive team at Intrepid, she advised Fortune 500 companies and emerging aerospace and aviation ventures navigating complex regulatory environments. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Teach For America alum. 

Matt Stohr, Head of Business Development 
Matt Stohr's background spans consulting, commercial operations and defense leadership. Before joining Venus, he worked at Deloitte Consulting, where he led business development and go-to-market initiatives for Deloitte's Sports practice. He began his career as a U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces officer with multiple combat deployments. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School. 

Sheila Menz, General Counsel 
Before joining Venus last summer, Sheila Menz served as Deputy General Counsel at the Pentagon and has held roles at the State Department, the U.S. Senate and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She also spent six years in private practice in Washington, D.C., counseling clients in technology, defense and other regulated industries. She holds a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and a J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law. 

About Venus Aerospace 
Venus Aerospace is building next-generation propulsion systems for defense, space, and future high-speed flight. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Venus is developing flight-proven Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) technology designed to deliver greater efficiency, range, and scalability for defense and space missions. Venus’ propulsion systems are designed for domestic manufacturing and mission flexibility across national security and aerospace applications. Venus is backed by Mercury Fund, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, Airbus Ventures, Trousdale Ventures and others. To learn more, visit www.venusaero.com. 

After completing the world’s first successful flight test of a high-thrust rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in May 2025, Venus Aerospace today announced the close of a $91 million Series B financing led by Mercury Fund, a Houston-based venture capital firm, with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, MESH, PEAK6, Draper Associates, Starboard Star Venture Capital, Green Sands Equity, Seraph Group, Trousdale Ventures, and other new and existing strategic and institutional investors.  

The round will fund Venus as it scales development and production, moving its RDRE propulsion system from successful flight demonstration toward deployment for a range of near-term defense and space applications. Current systems struggle to meet customer requirements for range, performance and domestic production. Venus is building to close that gap.  

The announcement follows the recent appointment of Pam Melroy, former NASA Deputy Administrator, to Venus’ board of directors.

Unlike conventional rocket engines, which burn fuel through subsonic combustion, Venus’ RDRE employs a continuous supersonic detonation wave that rotates around the combustion chamber. The result is the most efficient rocket engine architecture ever flown, by a margin of 15 percent. This efficiency gain can translate into extended range, increased payload flexibility, and more capable systems across defense and space missions where performance margins are critical.

Built from 3D-printed components and standard materials, the RDRE is designed for domestic manufacturing at scale through accessible supply chains, reducing reliance on constrained or foreign-sourced parts. The engine is reusable and throttleable, with a wide range of mission applications, from munitions and space launch to orbital transfer and landers. Rather than developing a different engine for each application, Venus is building a common propulsion architecture intended to serve across multiple mission classes.

Demand for hypersonic and long-range capability is accelerating as the U.S. and its allies move to field systems that can reach farther and fly faster than legacy platforms allow. Venus is building its engines in Texas with American engineering talent for customers whose missions depend on reliable, sovereign propulsion capability.  

“This financing marks an important step in moving Venus from breakthrough demonstration to scaled capability,” said Sassie Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace. “Our customers need propulsion systems that go farther, can be produced reliably and are built on supply chains they can trust. We are advancing that capability with American engineering and manufacturing talent to strengthen U.S. defense, expand space access and support the future of high-speed flight.”

"Venus is exactly the kind of company Houston capital should be backing," said Blair Garrou, co-founder and Managing Partner at Mercury Fund. "It combines multiple frontier technologies, domestic manufacturing and clear commercial and national security relevance. We believe this team is positioned to lead an important new chapter in defense and space, and we are proud to support a company building breakthrough technology here in Texas."

“Lockheed Martin Ventures invests in technologies to help increase mission effectiveness,” said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures. “Since our initial investment, Venus has progressed very quickly in its technology development. Our reinvestment in Venus recognizes Venus’ accomplishments to date and focus on speed to manufacture, cost management and reduction of supply chain constraints. Venus is working effectively to position its propulsion system for the production scale required by defense programs.”

"This capital allows us to move from successful flight demonstration toward deployable propulsion systems," said Andrew Duggleby, co-founder and CTO of Venus Aerospace. "What differentiates our RDRE is not just that it works, but that it has flown at high thrust and was designed with scale, manufacturability and mission integration in mind. Our propulsion architecture combines efficiency, throttling, reusability and manufacturability in a way that customers need for real defense and space missions. We are focused on translating technical progress into reliable systems for operational use."

Venus conducted the world's first flight test of a high-thrust rotating detonation engine in May 2025, reaching that milestone in just over four years on $80 million in capital, one of the fastest and most capital-efficient engine development efforts of its kind.

Venus Aerospace is building next-generation propulsion systems for defense, space, and future high-speed flight. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Venus is developing flight-proven Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) technology designed to deliver greater efficiency, range, and scalability for defense and space missions. Venus' propulsion systems are designed for domestic manufacturing and mission flexibility across national security and aerospace applications. Venus is backed by Mercury Fund, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, Airbus Ventures, Trousdale Ventures and others. To learn more, visit .

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