TEAM

ATRX Co-Founders John Bergmans and Felix Bustos III met at Virgin Galactic in 2014 during the development of LauncherOne and SpaceShipTwo and soon realized they shared an interest in space and entrepreneurship. After working in Mojave, they each pursued other interesting activities—with John testing the Air Turbo Rocket (ATR) and Felix co-founding a technology startup.

They kept in touch over the years and recently founded ATRX to develop Space Planes that meet the growing demands for low-cost, responsive space launch.  John and Felix are fortunate to be joined by two of the world’s leading experts in ATR technology—Dr. John Bossard and Dr. Kirk Christensen.  They are also excited to welcome Kristin Hildebrand, Virgin Galactic Future Astronaut and former Nike Global Creative Concept Director, to the team.

 

John Bergmans
Co-Founder and CEO

 

  • Over 25 years of technology development experience

  • Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, The Spaceship Company

  • Air Turbo Rocket developer and test stand data system specialist

  • Unique propulsion experience, including control systems for solid propellant ramjets

 

Felix Bustos III
Co-Founder and Chairman

 

  • Over 15 years aerospace leadership experience

  • Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company, U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

  • Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Space SME, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve

  • HelenHealth, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman

 

Dr. John Bossard
Chief Technology Officer

 

  • Air Turbo Rocket designer and developer

  • Subject Matter Expert in rocket and combined-cycle air-breathing propulsion

  • Technical support for NASA, DoD and commercial aerospace firms

 

Dr. Kirk Christensen
Chief Propulsion Analyst

 

  • Expert Air Turbo Rocket analyst

  • Liquid, solid and air-breathing propulsion specialist

  • PhD thesis on vehicle performance optimization using ATR propulsion

 
 

Kristin Hildebrand
Chief Marketing Officer

 

  • Virgin Galactic Future Astronaut

  • Nike, Global Creative Concept Director

  • WONE Co-Founder

 
 

Future strategic advisors

ATRX is engaging with key advisors, including a National Security Space Strategic Advisor and a Commercial Space Strategic Advisor.

 

National Security Space
Strategic Advisor

  • Former senior executive U.S. Department of Defense space domain leader

 
 

Commercial Space Strategic Advisor

  • Former C-level executive of a publicly traded technology company