bluShift Aerospace's Sascha Deri on Hybrid Rockets and America's Rocket Motor Shortage

Sascha Deri, founder and CEO of bluShift Aerospace, builds hybrid rocket engines that aren't explosive, can throttle, and can sit on a shelf ready to go. He joins Chris Lustrino from his test cell at a former Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine.

Before bluShift, Sascha spent 25 years building a solar e-commerce company to nearly $40 million in revenue. He explains what a hybrid rocket actually is, and why both the solid-rocket and liquid-rocket camps ignore it. He also explains how safety turns into a business advantage: lower R&D cost, no explosive safety radius around the factory, and motors you can store like ordinary inventory.

Two and a half years ago, an astronaut advisor told Sascha the solid rocket motor crisis was real, and bluShift pivoted to it. Today it's working with a hypersonics company that needs a booster it can test quickly. Sascha says bluShift comes in at about a quarter of the cost of the solid motor that customer was planning to buy.

In this episode:

●      From solar e-commerce to rocket propulsion

●      Hybrid rockets explained: solid fuel, liquid oxidizer

●      Why solid and liquid rocket engineers both ignore hybrids

●      The solid rocket motor shortage and bluShift's pivot to defense

●      Suborbital research with four to eight minutes of microgravity

●      Seven-figure, milestone-based contracts with a hypersonics customer

●      Why bluShift is building a smaller 15-inch motor to move faster

●      Doing a lot with a little: concrete blocks, steel chambers and creative engineering

Guest: Sascha Deri, Founder & CEO, bluShift Aerospace

Host: Chris Lustrino, Founder & CEO, Kingscrowd

bluShift Aerospace is raising on Wefunder: https://wefunder.com/blushift.aerospace

Kingscrowd rates bluShift 4.5 out of 5, and it's a Kingscrowd Top Deal. Kingscrowd Edge members can read the full analysis at kingscrowd.com.

Inside Startup Investing is the only podcast where you can invest in every guest. Subscribe so you never miss a founder interview.

Disclosure: This episode is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy any security. Investing in early-stage companies is risky and illiquid, and you may lose your entire investment.