PREVIEW

A cutting-edge aerospace company in the US has made history with a breakthrough test flight that could one day shrink the journey from Los Angeles to Tokyo to less than two hours.

Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based startup, has become the first American firm to successfully fly a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) - a next-gen propulsion system that could usher in a new era of hypersonic passenger travel.

In a major milestone for US aerospace, the firm tested the engine at Spaceport America in New Mexico on Wednesday, 14 May, marking the first time such technology has been flown in the country — and possibly anywhere in the world.

“This is the moment we’ve been working toward for five years,” said Sassie Duggleby, CEO and Co-founder of Venus Aerospace.

“We’ve proven that this technology works, not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air. With this milestone, we’re one step closer to making high-speed flight accessible, affordable, and sustainable.”

The groundbreaking RDRE is compact, powerful, and significantly more efficient than traditional rocket engines. It’s been in theoretical development since the 1980s - but never tested in real-world flight conditions until now.

“This milestone proves our engine works outside the lab, under real flight conditions,” added Andrew Duggleby, the firm’s Chief Technology Officer.

“Rotating detonation has been a long-sought gain in performance. Venus’ RDRE solved the last but critical steps to harness the theoretical benefits of pressure gain combustion.”

Venus’s system is designed to scale - from hypersonic defence technology to futuristic aircraft that could blast through the skies at speeds over Mach 6, all while taking off from a conventional runway.

The firm’s ambitious goal? The Stargazer M4 - a reusable Mach 4 aircraft capable of carrying passengers across continents in a fraction of today’s flight times.

The RDRE is built to work alongside Venus’s proprietary VDR2 detonation ramjet, enabling aircraft to seamlessly switch from runway takeoff to hypersonic cruise without the need for heavy rocket boosters.

Venus isn’t alone in the hypersonic race. The US is pouring resources into high-speed tech in a bid to keep pace with China’s advances.

Defence tech firm Anduril Industries recently tested a 21-inch hypersonic solid rocket motor for the Navy, hoping to supercharge the speed of the SM-6 missile to Mach 5–7.

Meanwhile, Castelion - a startup launched by ex-SpaceX engineers - has raised a staggering $100 million to mass-produce affordable hypersonic strike weapons by 2027.

Engine maker Ursa Major’s Hadley engine has also demonstrated hypersonic capabilities, and the firm is now working on the Draper, a storable rocket engine designed for both atmospheric and space-based missions.

Over in Georgia, Hermeus is developing the Quarterhorse - a Mach 5 jet powered by a modified fighter engine and ramjet tech. The company is also planning a hypersonic airliner, the Halcyon, that could slash the transatlantic flight from London to New York down to just 90 minutes.

Even the Pentagon is getting in on the action, awarding a massive $1.45 billion contract to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions for hypersonic testing systems. Kratos’s Erinyes test bed has already topped Mach 5, and a cheaper hypersonic drone is in the works.