Houston-based company Venus Aerospace announced today (June 8) the closing of its "Series B" financing round, which raised $91 million to evolve its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) from functioning prototype to a scalable propulsion system with multiple applications.
Venus completed a demonstration launch with its test vehicle in May 2025, accomplishing the first such flight from U.S. soil powered by an RDRE. At scale, the company envisions a wide variety of uses for the design, including powering aircraft up to Mach 6 straight off the runway, orbital transfer vehicles for satellites in space, and as the engine for future spacecraft capable of landing on extraterrestrial worlds like the moon.
