Sascha Deri sits for a June 29 interview in Hangar 6, at Brunswick Landing with CNN Innovation and Space Correspondent Rachel Crane. Photo contributed by bluShift Aerospace
BluShift Aerospace, a Brunswick-based NewSpace startup, announced a new phase of rapid engine testing to optimize their carbon-neutral, biofuel powered MAREVL rocket engine.
The company has also opened a new equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder. The “community round” campaign allows startups to raise capital from customers and supporters, alongside angel investors and VCs. The goal is to raise $500,000-$1 million by November.
“The bluShift team is ecstatic to be launching a community round on Wefunder as we enter a fast-paced era of the company’s growth,” Sascha Deri, CEO and founder of bluShift Aerospace, said in a prepared release. “This new round of funding allows us to complete a rapid series of 20 or more engine tests, to fine tune the rocket’s engine so we can get up to flight grade performance and to begin a year-long process with the Federal Aviation Administration for licensing and approving our future launch site.”
BluShift has already secured reservations for 60% of its early-bird investments and announced in April it had raised $1.07 million from nearly 1,300 investors, bringing its first crowdfunding campaign to a successful completion.
Lead investor Burak Sezen re-invested in bluShift after learning of the company’s community round. He also reserved his spot as the company’s lead investor, which provides him with the authority to direct the voting power of all Wefunder investors.
“I am very proud to be leading the blushift Wefunder campaign again,” Sezen said. “The team has made tremendous progress, including improvements in design and technology, successful firing tests, and demonstrating the viability of a bio-fueled rocket. They are much closer to the vision of becoming the first commercially viable aerospace company delivering payloads to space.”
The Wefunder community round launches as CNN Business prepares to release a segment profiling the new space startup. For information on how to invest in bluShift, visit their Wefunder page at wefunder.com/blushift.aerospace.
On Sept. 1, bluShift Aerospace celebrated a successful test of its full-scale MAREVL engine, which reached a peak thrust of 45kN (10,000lbs) for a full 10 seconds, further elevating bluShift’s status as the first company in the world to power rocket engines using carbon-neutral biofuel. Photo contributed by bluShift Aerospace
On June 21, bluShift won first place in Dirigo Labs’ inaugural pitch contest, taking home a $25,000 prize. On June 30, bluShift announced the location for Maine’s first Sustainable Space Complex and its future base of operations, including the company’s manufacturing facility and mission control. On Sept. 1, the company conducted a test of its full-scale MAREVL engine, which reached a peak thrust of 45kN (10,000 pounds) for a full 10 seconds, further elevating bluShift’s status as the first company in the world to power rocket engines using carbon-neutral biofuel.
Currently, company engineers are designing a full-sized commercial suborbital rocket, Starless Rogue, which is expected to launch in 2023 using the company’s proprietary nontoxic, carbon-neutral biofuel. When completed, Starless Rogue will become the first rocket capable of propelling over 60 pounds of customer payloads into space using carbon-neutral, nontoxic biofuel.
The company’s goal is to launch small payloads for commercial and academic customers who currently have to rely on expensive, infrequent rideshare opportunities in large payload bays offered by SpaceX, RocketLab, Virgin Orbit and other large players.
In early 2021, bluShift launched the first commercial rocket in the world powered by eco-friendly, bio-derived fuel from Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone.
Maine’s Downeast coast is ideal for launching rockets because, unlike other U.S. locations, it can offer a safe polar orbit trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean that does not endanger human populations or wildlife. Because of the company’s nontoxic biofuel, when the small rockets return to Earth they won’t endanger humans, pollute the ocean, or become a liability to Maine’s valuable fisheries.
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