Charlie Weise is the Founder and CEO of RATLOG, a Y Combinator-backed aerospace startup building reusable heavy-lift rockets powered by a radically simplified engine with 90% fewer parts than conventional designs.

Charlie studies Aerospace Engineering at TU Dresden and previously served as a Research Intern at the Aerospace Institute working on ESA's Argonaut Moon Lander, and as a Research Assistant at Fraunhofer IWS on an ESA space telescope project.

Charlie co-founded Innuendo, where he developed an air-breathing cruise missile powered by a rotating detonation engine, and is a YETI G1 Fellow from the Dresden-based entrepreneurship program where he first connected with his RATLOG co-founders.

Under Charlie's leadership, RATLOG hot-fired its first engine prototype within 4 months of founding, spending under $30K, and secured $400M in launch reservations from satellite operators and orbital data center companies.

RATLOG was accepted into Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch and is targeting a first orbital launch between 2029 and 2030, positioning itself as a more affordable and accessible alternative to Ariane 6 for the European market.