Hop Aero
Rocket cargo delivery to contested environments
About Hop Aero
Hop Aero is building rocket cargo vehicles that deliver to contested environments hundreds of miles away in minutes. Our rockets fly point-to-point into the most austere locations at hypersonic speeds. Hop Aero's goal is to provide the U.S. and allies the asymmetric advantage that deters a future major conflict.
Founders
Jacob Balaj
Founder
Founder at Hop Aero. Previously Integration & Test Engineer at SpinLaunch (satellites), Lead Systems Integration & Test at Masten Space Systems (lunar lander for NASA's CLPS program), and Integration & Test at Virgin Orbit (LauncherOne) and SpaceX (Falcon 9/Heavy—built booster refurbishment process, cut test time in half). Earlier avionics QA on MV-22 tiltrotors in the US Marine Corps.
Matija Milenovic
Founder
Founder at Hop Aero. Raised $3M pre-seed and won $1.25M SBIR from US Air Force. Previously CEO at porkchop (electric propulsion for satellites), launched on SpaceX Transporter-3, built $400M+ sales pipeline, sold IP. System Engineer at Destinus leading 20+ person team on supersonic UAV. Scaled Ukrainian loitering munition production from 10 to 100+ units/month. MS Aerospace Engineering KTH Stockholm.