News Roundup: What This Unique Space And Defence Company With Lockheed And GE As Customers Has Been Up To Recently

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Starfighters Space Inc. (NYSE:FJET), which operates the world’s only fleet of commercially flight-ready F-104 supersonic aircraft capable of air-launches at MACH 2, is making further inroads in the space and defense markets, inking deals, memorandums of understanding and strategic partnerships as it advances its mission to provide fast, responsive and cost-effective commercial launch and high-altitude research services.

The company, which is based in Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is building a reputation among global multinational customers including Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE), Meggitt Plc., Space Florida and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, thanks to what it says is its ability to provide suborbital and orbital satellite launches at unprecedented speeds, enabling customers to bypass atmospheric drag, reduce fuel requirements, lower costs and eliminate reliance on traditional launch pads. Starfighters is able to offer that thanks to STARLAUNCH, its platform that carries rockets to altitudes up to 100,000 feet before ignition, delivering payloads directly into suborbital and Low Earth Orbit. 

In addition to its innovative launching system, the company recently unveiled its Wind Tunnel in the Sky service. It is a reusable airborne platform designed to help Starfighters’ commercial, government, defense and research customers evaluate advanced technologies during sustained Mach 2 flights in real-world atmospheric conditions.

Piquing The Interest Of Space Clients 

That platform has piqued the interest of the space industry and resulted in Starfighters’ recent collaboration with Vaya Defense & Space, Inc., which it announced in early September. Under that MOU, which includes two tracks, the companies will collaborate on supersonic captive-carry flight testing and air-launch propulsion. With the first collaboration track, the companies plan to evaluate flying Vaya hypersonic test articles and other payloads on Starfighters’  Wind Tunnel in the Sky service. 

Under the second collaboration track, both companies plan to assess whether Vaya’s hybrid propulsion is suitable for STARLAUNCH, beginning with suborbital missions. The joint technical assessment is expected to cover propulsion performance and packaging, vehicle and payload integration and methodologies for operating from the F-104’s underwing stations.

"Vaya has spent years maturing a propulsion technology that is throttleable, restartable, and non-explosive — which is close to an ideal profile for a vehicle carried under the wing of an aircraft," said Tim Franta, CEO of Starfighters Space. "Their shop is also a short drive from our hangar at Kennedy Space Center. That combination of technical fit and proximity allows us to develop and test hardware faster than either of us could alone." 

Adding Depth To Launch Services 

With the Wind Tunnel in the Sky service, Starfighters says it is designing a unique underwing platform that is modular, reusable and able to host a variety of sensors, test articles and other payloads for long-duration exposure to both high-speed and low-gravity conditions. This underwing platform is expected to support aerodynamic test articles, avionics, sensors, communications systems, electronic equipment, advanced materials and other technologies for hypersonic programs and microgravity research. 

In the spring, Starfighters tapped Integrated Launch Solutions, Inc. to provide the engineering and technical integration support for STARLAUNCH. That is important because ILS team members have supported more than 15 major launch vehicle programs at more than 10 federal ranges and commercial spaceports around the nation and provide subject matter expertise in launch site operations and integration, range safety, launch licensing and mission integration, reported the company. That adds process depth and execution capacity to Starfighters’ advanced flight and launch services, noted Starfighters.  

Carrying Payload Missions 

In addition to its deal with Vaya, Starfighters inked a separate MOU with The Bionetics Corp., a provider of government and commercial aerospace engineering services, to integrate and process a series of pathfinder small payloads for missions aboard its F-104 aircraft. Under the MOU, Bionetics said it will work with Starfighters to prepare multiple classes of small payloads, including their pre-flight and post-flight assembly, testing, integration and data retrieval, using Bionetics’ specialized laboratories, equipment and personnel within the Space Life Sciences Lab at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Starfighters said it will use the first payloads as pathfinders to determine the array of equipment and services required for future Wind Tunnel in the Sky and STARLAUNCH missions. 

The two MOUs follow Starfighters’ second-quarter results, in which the company announced it had secured $17.5 million in an equity investment led by global institutional investors. Proceeds from the funding are going to support operational expansion, infrastructure development and continued advancement of its STARLAUNCH platform, including initiatives tied to launch readiness, mission execution capabilities and broader space launch operations. These two deals are an example of that. 

Starfighters is the world’s first operator of a fleet of commercially flight-ready F-104 supersonic aircraft, and that novelty isn’t lost on players in the space and aviation markets. The company is working on building momentum, inking collaborations and raising money. With fuel in its tanks, this space company may be ready to take off. Click here to learn more. 

Featured image from Shutterstock.

This post contains sponsored content and was created in collaboration with a third-party partner. Benzinga is a publisher and does not provide personalized investment advice or act as a broker or dealer. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Read further disclosures here.