If aviation startups are hard, now think what it must be like to take on one of the industry’s most technologically critical elements: the jet engine. This challenge, however, has not deterred Ian Brooke, a young Californian entrepreneur, from founding Astro Mechanica, a Y Combinator-backed startup aims to develop a new type of jet engine, called “Electric Adaptive Engine”. Astro Mechanica’s engine will have a number of interesting uses, starting with defense applications and, eventually, later on, in the space and commercial aviation industries too. So, as you can imagine, when I read that someone was aiming to disrupt the jet propulsion space, I wasted no time in reaching out to Astromechanica to get Ian into the podcast and learn a bit more about this intriguing project. In today’s episode of the podcast we will learn what is an electric adaptive engine, what sort of fuel it uses and what advantages is has over traditional propulsion systems. Tune in for a fascinating conversation with the entrepreneur leading one of the most ambitious aerospace startups right now!