AGILE SPACE: Revolutionizing the Aerospace Industry
In 2008, rocket scientist Daudi Barnes left Los Angeles for Durango, Colorado. His goal? To build one of the country’s most sophisticated test stands for firing and evaluating spacecraft thrusters. That company, Advanced Mobile Propulsion Test (AMPT), became a quiet powerhouse, running hundreds of tests for NASA, the Department of Defense, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and more.
Over twelve years, Daudi and his team didn’t just fire thrusters—they learned the nuances of what worked, what didn’t, and why. With thousands of data points, they developed insights into propulsion that no other small team in the country could match. Those insights led to an ambitious question: What if we stopped testing thrusters for others and started building the most efficient ones ourselves?
Timing Meets Vision
By 2018, additive manufacturing had caught up with Daudi’s vision. 3D-printing at nano precision made previously impossible designs feasible. That was the year we first met the AMPT team.
Daudi pitched us on his vision: thrusters that could outperform anything else on the market. His pitch wasn’t just theory. The team had unique advantages:
A decade of test stand experience
Proprietary new thruster designs
Their own test facility to shorten development cycles from years to months
It was the kind of high conviction bet that we exist to make.
Becoming Agile
We partnered with Daudi to build out a team and roll AMPT into a new entity: Agile Space Industries. In August 2019, we led their first round of financing, and we’ve continued to invest alongside them as they scaled.
Today, Agile is one of the largest private employers in La Plata County. Their thrusters serve customers across the aerospace industry and are recognized as the most efficient and responsive on the market.
Why Durango Works
Agile could have been built anywhere. But Durango is not a limitation—it’s an edge.
The company has recruited top talent from NASA, SpaceX, and other industry leaders. Engineers who once left Durango to pursue aerospace careers on the coasts are now returning, drawn by the chance to work on cutting-edge space technology without giving up the lifestyle and community they value.
Looking Forward
What started as a test stand in the Rockies is now shaping the future of in-space propulsion. Agile embodies what we believe at Howdy Partners: the overlooked often outperform. Their story proves that world-class companies don’t need a Silicon Valley zip code. They can be built where people want to live, by founders with the vision to see opportunities where others don’t.