# Ignacio Montero

> Ignacio Belieres Montero is the founder and CEO of Epic Aerospace, a Los Altos, California-based company building orbit transfer vehicles and space tugs that move satellites from one orbit to another. A Stanford aerospace engineering graduate and Y Combinator S19 alum, he started building rockets at 16 and founded Epic Aerospace in 2017. The company's CHIMERA LEO 1 launched aboard SpaceX Transporter 6 in January 2023, and CHIMERA GEO 1 launched on SpaceX's Intuitive Machines-2 mission in February 2025, reaching 53 million kilometers from Earth. Epic Aerospace reached $4.2M in annual revenue in 2024 with a 28-person team, pioneering non-toxic hypergolic propulsion technology for cost-effective in-space transportation.

- **Role:** CEO and Founder at Epic Aerospace
- **Organizations:** Epic Aerospace, Y Combinator
- **From:** Buenos Aires, Argentina
- **Nationality:** Argentine
- **Education:** B.S. in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Founded Epic Aerospace at age ~24, growing it to $4.2M revenue by 2024, Y Combinator S19 alum (Summer 2019), Successfully launched CHIMERA LEO 1 on SpaceX Transporter 6 (January 2023)

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
- **2017** — Founded Epic Aerospace in September 2017
- **2019** — Accepted into Y Combinator S19 batch; raised $150,000 pre-seed from YC
- **2019** — Raised $1.1 million shortly after Y Combinator
- **2021** — Closed seed round from Alex Fisher and Xeibo Ventures
- **2023** — CHIMERA LEO 1 launched aboard SpaceX Transporter 6 (January 2023)
- **2023** — GomSpace signed €318,000 order with Epic Aerospace for control systems (September 2023)
- **2024** — Epic Aerospace reached $4.2M annual revenue with 28-person team
- **2025** — CHIMERA GEO 1 launched on SpaceX Intuitive Machines-2 mission (February 26, 2025) on lunar fly-by trajectory

## Achievements

- Founded Epic Aerospace at age ~24, growing it to $4.2M revenue by 2024
- Y Combinator S19 alum (Summer 2019)
- Successfully launched CHIMERA LEO 1 on SpaceX Transporter 6 (January 2023)
- Successfully launched CHIMERA GEO 1 on SpaceX Intuitive Machines-2 lunar mission (February 2025)
- CHIMERA GEO 1 traveled 53 million kilometers from Earth
- Completed 300+ engine tests for proprietary hypergolic propulsion system
- Secured €318,000 GomSpace partnership order
- Pioneer of non-toxic hypergolic propellant technology for orbit transfer vehicles

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — CHIMERA GEO 1 launched on SpaceX Intuitive Machines-2 mission on a lunar fly-by trajectory, traveling 53 million km from Earth
- **2024-12** — Epic Aerospace reached $4.2M in annual revenue with a 28-person team
- **2025-04** — Epic Aerospace received an M&A offer

## Links

- Website: https://epic-aerospace.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ignacio-belieres-montero-14b457b6
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/epicaerospace
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ibmontero/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ignacio-montero
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14