Jeff Thornburg

Jeff Thornburg is the co-founder and CEO of Portal Space Systems, where he leads the development of maneuverable, reconfigurable spacecraft designed for responsive operations in orbit. Under his leadership, Portal has raised one of the largest publicly announced seed rounds in the space sector, launched a new spacecraft product line manifested with commercial payload partners, and expanded its technical footprint with an operational R&D facility and a future manufacturing headquarters coming online in 2026. In 2025, Portal was named one of Via Satellite’s Top 10 Small Satellite Companies to Watch. Jeff previously served as Vice President of Propulsion at SpaceX, where he was the principal architect of the Raptor engine for Starship, and held senior leadership roles at Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Stratolaunch, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and Agility Robotics. He began his career as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and worked at the Air Force Research Laboratory, helping lead the Integrated Powerhead Demonstration, the world’s first hydrogen full-flow staged-combustion engine test. He later supported NASA’s J-2X program and directed turbomachinery efforts at Aerojet. Jeff has received multiple NASA honors, including Space Flight Awareness and “Made It Happen” awards, as well as AFRL Technical Program Manager of the Year. In 2025, he received Misty West’s HardTech Award and was named a GeekWire Uncommon Thinker. He also mentors founders through the Creative Destruction Lab.