An Ex-SpaceX Engineer on Elon Musk, Starship, and Building a $1B-Valued Startup (Scott Morton, Founder & CEO of Revel)

Industrial control software has remained stagnant since the 1980s, creating a critical bottleneck for companies building complex hardware like rockets and nuclear reactors. Revel addresses this by providing a modern software platform designed to replace outdated, inefficient legacy systems. Founded by SpaceX veteran Scott Morton, the company leverages high-performance, runtime-safe code to enable hardware engineers to iterate rapidly without the risks associated with traditional, error-prone programming languages. By standardizing control systems across diverse hardware—from satellite manufacturers to hypercar producers—Revel significantly accelerates testing cadences. The company’s success stems from applying first-principles thinking to industrial automation, mirroring the high-stakes, rapid-iteration culture of SpaceX. This approach allows teams to move from months of development to same-day deployments, effectively modernizing the infrastructure required for the next generation of industrial and aerospace innovation.