Bob Ess is a seasoned aerospace executive with more than 35 years of leadership experience spanning NASA, commercial spaceflight, advanced vehicle development, and hypersonic systems. He currently guides the development and execution of Starlab’s next-generation space initiatives, drawing on a distinguished career leading complex programs, scaling high-growth organizations, and delivering mission-critical aerospace systems.
Ess most recently served as President of Venus Aerospace, where he directed all company operations and oversaw engineering, flight testing, manufacturing, human resources, and program management. Under his leadership, the company expanded rapidly and implemented robust processes that accelerated the development of advanced hypersonic platforms.

Prior to Venus Aerospace, Ess held senior leadership positions at Blue Origin, including Senior Director of the New Glenn Programs Office. There, he spearheaded major initiatives in program management, avionics restructuring, reusability strategies, and business modeling. He played an instrumental role in securing a Launch Services Agreement with the U.S. Air Force and significantly strengthened New Glenn’s technical capabilities and workforce.

Ess spent nearly three decades at NASA, culminating in his role as Manager of the Avionics & Software Office for the Orion spacecraft. He led a team of more than 600 civil servants and contractors that developed and delivered the avionics and software . Earlier in his NASA career, he served as Program Manager for the Ares I-X flight test—one of the agency’s fastest and most cost-effective rocket development efforts—recognized by Time Magazine as the 2009 Invention of the Year.

Ess holds a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston. He is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and a licensed pilot.