BluShift Aerospace (sometimes stylized as bluShift) is an American

aerospace manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of Aircraft design process, designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a hi ...

headquartered in Brunswick,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, with a West Coast office in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Founded in 2014, the company develops hybrid rocket engines powered by plant-derived biofuels to launch

small satellites A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...

and

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

research missions. In January 2021, BluShift launched the world's first commercial rocket powered by

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

. The company is funded by numerous organizations including the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Small Business Innovation Research The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a U.S. government funding program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the fo ...

program, and the Maine Technology Institute. They are an affiliate of the Maine Space Grant Consortium.

History

Early development (2014-2020)

Sascha Deri founded BluShift Aerospace in 2014. In 2016, the company relocated from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

to Brunswick Landing in

, leveraging the aerospace infrastructure of the former Naval Air Station. This move gave access to testing facilities and the technical staff needed to further develop its experimental rockets. The Maine Technology Institute backed efforts to improve its biofuel in 2017, while a 2019

(SBIR) grant supported work on a modular

hybrid rocket engine A hybrid-propellant rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor that uses rocket propellants in two different phases: solid rocket propellant, one solid and the other either gas or liquid rocket propellant, liquid. The hybrid rocket concept can be tr ...

design. BluShift's initial launch, originally planned for 2019, was delayed for multiple factors, including the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. By 2020, the company conducted 154 static fire tests of its hybrid propulsion system in preparation for its first launch.

First launch (2021)

On January 31, 2021, following several weather-related delays, BluShift Aerospace conducted the launch of its Stardust 1.0 prototype rocket from the

Loring Air Force Base Loring Air Force Base was a United States Air Force installation in northeastern Maine, near Limestone and Caribou in Aroostook County. It was one of the largest bases of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command during its existence, and was ...

in Limestone, Maine. The rocket, 20 feet (6 meters) in length, reached an altitude of approximately 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) before it was recovered via parachute. The company estimated the total cost of the launch at less than $500,000, demonstrating a low-cost, commercial small‑satellite launch capability. According to the company, the launch marked the first recorded commercial rocket flight powered entirely by a bio-derived fuel, as well as the first commercial rocket launch in Maine and the broader

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region. It also was the first flight test of BluShift’s hybrid propulsion system. The vehicle carried three experimental payloads housed in 3U

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

enclosures, provided b
Kellogg Research Lab
Rocket Insights, and Falmouth High School. The company did not reuse the vehicle, using it instead for post-flight analysis.

Commercial development (2021-2023)

Following the Stardust 1.0 launch, BluShift Aerospace began expanding its commercial and technical operations. In March 2021, the company launched a public crowdfunding campaign with an initial target of $500,000. By April 2022, the campaign had raised over $1.1 million from more than 1,000 investors worldwide. In June 2021, BluShift signed a commercial agreement wit
Max IQ
a Virginia-based company, to provide launch services for up to 60 small satellites over multiple years, with a planned launch cadence of twice per year. The company began construction of its full-scale Modular Adaptable Rocket Engine for Vehicle Launch (MAREVL) 2.0 in October 2021. A static fire test of the engine took place in March 2022. The MAREVL engine is designed to power the company’s upcoming Starless Rogue

vehicle and the Red Dwarf

orbital launch An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitud ...

system. To support future launch operations, BluShift selected a site near Jonesport and Beals, Maine - approximately 30 miles east of

Bar Harbor Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. ...

- after conducting site evaluations and engaging in a regulatory review process. The site is intended to support coastal missions to

polar Polar may refer to: Geography * Geographical pole, either of the two points on Earth where its axis of rotation intersects its surface ** Polar climate, the climate common in polar regions ** Polar regions of Earth, locations within the polar circ ...

and sun-synchronous orbits.

Recent activities (2023-2025)

BluShift participated in the inaugura
Maine Space Conference
in November 2023, an event organized by th
Maine Space Corporation
and the NASA Maine Space Grant Consortium. The conference focused on the Maine Space 2030 strategic initiative and brought together participants from government, academia, and private industry. In June 2024, the company completed a $1.3 million seed funding round led by Houston-based Late Stage Capital.

Brady Brim-DeForest Brady Brim-DeForest (born 5 March 1984) is an American entrepreneur, investor and author. He is the CEO of Formula.Monks, the technology consulting division of .monks, and is the chairman of BluShift Aerospace. He is the founder and first CEO of T ...

, managing partner at Late Stage Capital, joined BluShift’s board as chairman. This investment was supplemented by a $1 million federal SBIR grant to support development of the company’s suborbital launch capabilities. In October 2024, BluShift completed a 60-second static fire test of the MAREVL 2.0 engine with active throttling. The test concluded a $1.1 million contract with the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

focused on evaluating the engine for booster-stage propulsion applications. As of 2025, BluShift is preparing for the first launch of its Starless Rogue suborbital rocket, which is expected to carry commercial payloads. It has also completed its hybrid engine testing in Brunswick. The company is pursuing a $15 million equity round to fund the first launch of their suborbital rocket from

Spaceport America Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and southeast of Truth or Consequences. Wit ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. As of mid-2025, BluShift has announced plans to re-fly of the booster to space once their FAA launch license is approved.

MAREVL engine technology

The Modular Adaptable Rocket Engine for Vehicle Launch (MAREVL) is a

developed by BluShift, which combines solid biofuel with liquid oxidizer. BluShift's 2022 hot fire attempt of MAREVL 2.0, which was ultimately cancelled due to ignition failures, was targeting thrust levels of , with the goal of ramping up to . The first successful test, conducted March 1, 2022, generated a peak thrust of . The full-scale MAREVL 2.0 engine produces approximately of thrust while consuming about 30 kilograms (66 lb) of combined propellant per second. The

modular design Modular design, or modularity in design, is a design principle that subdivides a system into smaller parts called ''modules'' (such as modular process skids), which can be independently created, modified, replaced, or exchanged with other modules ...

allows multiple engines to be clustered for different vehicle configurations, from small suborbital rockets to larger orbital launch systems.

Engine characteristics

BluShift uses hybrid engines intended to provide greater control and safety margins. Their proprietary solid fuel derives from agricultural byproducts, though the specific composition remains confidential. In a June 2024 article, ''Causeartist'' reported that Deri had been filmed by CNN eating the fuel to demonstrate that it is non-toxic. BluShift also states that their fuel is

carbon-neutral Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and Greenhouse gas removal, removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon diox ...

in its lifecycle, as the organic materials absorb

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

during growth, offsetting combustion emissions. The oxidizer system uses

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

enhanced with

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

. BluShift estimates their propulsion system costs approximately 50% the price of comparable solid or liquid-fueled alternatives, primarily due to readily available raw materials and simplified manufacturing processes.

Testing program

MAREVL prototypes underwent extensive testing at BluShift's Brunswick facility between 2014 and 2018, alongside experimental biofuel formulations. A scaled-down version completed its test campaign in 2019 and powered the successful Stardust mission. The full-scale MAREVL 2.0 is currently being tested and is intended to include more than 20 static fire tests. The first test, a 5-second burn completed in March 2022, validated ignition and flow stability. Subsequent tests have progressively extended burn duration and demonstrated throttling capabilities, culminating in the successful 60-second full-duration burn in October 2024. Testing infrastructure includes custom-built engine stands capable of safely containing full-scale engines, with data collection systems monitoring thrust levels, combustion characteristics, and thermal performance throughout each test cycle.

Launch vehicles and capabilities

Stardust program

The Stardust series served as BluShift's technology demonstrator and testbed for the MAREVL propulsion system. These rockets launch from a mobile stand that is horizontal during transport, then raised vertical at the

launch site A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

. The

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

structure stands about three times the rocket's height with flame diverters at the base. According to the company, its test site and future manufacturing facilities are designed to be powered by renewable energy. A 2022 report from ''Mainebiz'' noted that the company's fuel production, test site, and launchpad are designed to be entirely solar-powered. Stardust 1 successfully demonstrated the viability of

propulsion on January 31, 2021. The single-stage reusable prototype carried 8 kg of payloads to 4,000 feet altitude. Following the January 2021 flight, the company announced the Stardust 1.0 rocket was in excellent condition and would be inspected. The vehicle is now considered retired. The planned Stardust 2 would have increased payload capacity to 30 kg with maximum

altitudes Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometry, geographical s ...

between 10-50 kilometers, but appears to have been superseded by the Starless Rogue program.

Starless Rogue

The Starless Rogue represents BluShift's suborbital rocket platform. It is designed to provide 6-10 minutes of

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

for 30 kg payloads on trajectories up to 300 kilometers altitude. The vehicle also serves as a

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds five times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since i ...

testbed for defense applications. The two-stage configuration uses clustered MAREVL engines in the first stage, with an upper stage and payload section similar to the planned Stardust 2 design. Starless Rogue Beta serves as a scaled-down, single-stage test version using one MAREVL engine for

high-altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometry, geographical s ...

and

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

testing. Construction of the first operational Starless Rogue is planned for summer 2025, with launch operations targeted for late 2025 from Spaceport America. The company is pursuing FAA commercial launch licensing, though initial flights may proceed under experimental permits.

Red Dwarf orbital vehicle

Red Dwarf represents BluShift's entry into the orbital launch market, designed to deliver 100 kg payloads to low Earth orbit with focus on polar and sun-synchronous orbits. The two-stage vehicle will eventually operate on a biweekly launch cadence. In February 2022, BluShift announced it reduced Red Dwarf from three stages to two while more than tripling payload capacity from 30 kg to 100 kg. This optimization significantly improved the vehicle's economic viability and competitive position in the small satellite launch market. The first Red Dwarf launch is planned for 2026, pending successful Starless Rogue operations and full FAA licensing. Due to Maine's high latitude, the vehicle is optimized for high-inclination and polar orbits, though the company is also considering operations from Wallops LC-1 and

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

LC-48 for different orbital requirements.

Recovery and reusability

BluShift has designed recovery systems into all their vehicles. Stardust 1 successfully demonstrated parachute recovery, landing safely in snow for post-flight analysis rather than reflight. For future operations, BluShift plans to recover all stages and payload sections of

rockets, plus first and possibly second stages of orbital vehicles, using parachutes for soft

splashdown Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft or launch vehicle in a body of water, usually by parachute. This has been the primary recovery method of American capsules including NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Orion along with th ...

off Maine's coast. Recovery teams using modified lobster boats will retrieve the hardware. The company expects stages to handle

atmospheric reentry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entry ...

without major issues due to relatively low speeds, with saltwater exposure having minimal impact on refurbishment time. The hybrid rocket design eliminates complex propellant plumbing, making refurbishment simpler compared to liquid-fueled systems.

Market position and future plans

BluShift targets the rapidly growing small satellite market, particularly nanosatellites and

CubeSats A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

that often face long delays and high costs as secondary payloads on larger rockets. The company's Maine coastal location allows for

and sun-synchronous orbits that are highly sought after for Earth observation satellites. Beyond their own launch services, BluShift is exploring applications for MAREVL technology as reusable boosters for larger launch vehicles. Recent discussions include partnerships for hypersonic testing at Mach 5 speeds and potential miniaturization for on-orbit propulsion applications. The company's educational partnerships throug
Max IQ
and other collaborators provide students hands-on experience with real spaceflight hardware through

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

outreach programs.

Launch attempt history

References

External links

*{{official website, https://blushiftaerospace.com Aerospace companies of the United States Companies based in Maine Rocket engine manufacturers Space launch vehicles of the United States Companies established in 2014 Private spaceflight companies