Ian Brooke

Ian Brooke is the founder and CEO of Astro Mechanica, a San Francisco aerospace startup backed by Y Combinator (W24), United Airlines Ventures, and other investors. The company is developing a turboelectric adaptive engine designed to maintain high efficiency from takeoff to Mach 3+, with applications in sustainable supersonic travel, cargo, defense, and orbital launch. A lifelong pilot who began flying at 16, Brooke studied physics at the University of Colorado Boulder and previously founded a successful venture. He launched Astro Mechanica in 2021, rapidly prototyping engines with off-the-shelf components and raising significant funding, including $27M+ rounds, while advancing his vision of a new “Turboelectric Age” of faster, more efficient global mobility.