Transcription
The commercial space economy is expanding rapidly, but before satellites can generate data or rockets can reach orbit, they need somewhere to test, train, and launch. So, who provides that infrastructure? Today, we're looking at Starfighters Space, its Star Launch Program, and how a recent investment could help accelerate the company's growth. I'm joined today by Tim Fernholz, CEO of Starfighters Space Inc. Tim, welcome to The Watchlist.
>> Thank you. Glad to be here.
>> Thank you for joining us. So, Tim, for investors hearing about Starfighters Space for the first time, can you explain what the company does and the opportunity you're pursuing in simple terms?
>> Sure. Uh the company basically does two things, and we do two things well. Uh so, uh the the sexy part is the launch program, which we'll get to second. But, the first thing is that we have a fleet of high-altitude, uh very fast supersonic jets, and we fly payloads at high speeds, at high altitudes to test things. Primarily test things before they go to space, or things for uh hypersonics uh for the for the federal government. So, that that's one aspect. We're we're an R&D, T&E, research, development, testing, and and evaluation uh firm for a lot of providers.
>> Uh the second thing we'll be doing is launching into space, is getting very exciting, uh especially uh having gone public in December and having done our first round of financing, because uh we now have the the money to do what we said we were going to do. And our our first uh uh rocket launch will be uh likely next year, and it'll be to suborbital space. So, for those of you who don't know what suborbital space is, that's where you go to space, but you come back down. Uh and so, our clients will get about 10 minutes of microgravity. Uh so, so that's what the space tourists do. They They go up and come down. Uh so, we'll be launching, and we're unique. There are other air-launch companies, but we're the only ones that air-launch at supersonic speeds. So, so that's that's that. And then that uh uh 18 months, 2 years later, we'll be going to orbit. And orbit means you perpetually stay and lower through orbit around the Earth. So, so it's getting very exciting. We're ordering flight hardware. We're uh We're doing a lot of exciting things. I We were looking at our flight profiles yesterday because in the space business a year is not a long time.
>> And it's an interesting time to be operating in in that that business. We're seeing growing demand for satellite deployment, defense applications, and commercial space services.
>> Yes.
>> While governments and private companies continue investing heavily in space infrastructure. So, you recently secured a $17.5 million strategic investment to advance Star Launch, and the company is set to join the Russell 3000 index this month.
>> Yes.
>> What do those milestones signal about where Star Fighter Space is headed?
>> Uh that we're on the right path. That we're getting funds to execute our plan. And and that's very important. And unlike other space companies, uh uh you know, I well, the ones that are are doing well are are are are well. But some of the ones that have dropped by the wayside, they put all their eggs in one basket and if they had a failure, they went out of business. Uh so, so we are doing steps to space where each step builds upon the previous one. And so, if we fail at the next step, it's not a failure of the whole program. It's just the failure of the last step. And then we can easily easily correct that.
>> Uh so, we are very much while we're we'll be in the launch industry, we're very much run like aviation since we launch off aircraft. We learned a lot of good lessons from aviation and actually from companies like SpaceX and Rocket Lab. Uh so, so and you're talking about how exciting it is right now. So, so two things happened last week. Uh we had about 850 people in in the neighborhood where I live and I here in the Kennedy Cut millionaires because of the SpaceX uh offering. So, so it's very interesting where literally some secretaries, uh cafeteria workers, aside from the engineers, all of a sudden became millionaires overnight.
>> So, the other thing that happened with that is that I'm expanding, we're hiring people. There are no SpaceX employees who want to move right now. So, about half the workforce, normally when you notice people for a job, that you'll get, you know, a good portion back from SpaceX and Blue Origin and and the general workforce. There are no responses back from SpaceX. So, about half of the available people are are not available anymore. So, so there really is a commercial market.
>> And as the space economy continues to mature, investors will be looking for signs that companies can translate industry tailwinds into sustainable growth. So, looking ahead, what are the key milestones investors should be watching and what does that path to high growth look like from here?
>> Uh so, so a couple of things for us. Uh probably the one that would make the investors feel most comfortable is that we will have good defense contracts for the next 10 years uh for for hypersonic testing. So, uh regardless of of other things, uh uh the federal government is good funding. And let me share our complicated uh business strategy. When we fly like this, we're doing hypersonics. When we fly like this, we're going to space. So, we're using the exact same platform to do two things. So, that that that saves us a huge amount of money.
>> And for those who don't know hypersonics, it's for rockets and missiles that fly faster than five times the speed of sound. So, what we do is we launch at going close to Mach 2. And then, you know, if you have a rocket that can go Mach 4, if you launch that going Mach 2, it can go Mach 6. So, uh so we'll be getting a lot of work just for hypersonic technology. And unlike other companies that are all about launch, we're about testing. So, you don't have to fly your whole vehicle with us. You can fly just your avionics, uh just your antenna, just your battery, uh just your targeting to see to see uh what uh what needs to be fixed or needs to be developed.
>> We also think one of our biggest supporters and and we've only casually spoken to them, but we think one of our biggest supporters and cheerleaders will be Lloyd's of London because you could be able to fly uh component units on our on our rocket and test it before you put it on a $250 million satellite accident in space. Uh lots of times some of the bigger satellites, they have old technology because they're proven. They're they're flying 10-year-old technology. Well, if they could have tested a new antenna, a new battery, new telemetry, that could be updated and put on a new satellite. So, we think Lloyd's of London is going to be a big fan.
>> So, this is a company positioning itself as an infrastructure provider for the growing commercial space economy with fresh capital, increasing market visibility, and a clear focus on scaling its Star Launch platform. Thank you so much for your time today, Tim.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Once again, that is Tim Fernholz, CEO of Star Fighter Space. For more information on the company and its Star Launch program, visit starfighterspace.com. That's all for this episode of The Watchlist. I'm Ricky Lee. Make it choices today.