Starfighters Space new CEO Tim Franta on building out operations after IPO
Investing.com -- Shares of supersonic aircraft operator Starfighters Space Inc (NYSE: FJET) began trading on the NYSE American in December 2025. While shares are down around 38% YTD following their massive post-IPO spike, the company remains confident in its plan to access growing opportunities in supersonic flight testing and suborbital missions. In conversation with Investing.com, the company’s new CEO Tim Franta discusses the operational side of its flight testing, mission execution, and scaling plans.
Franta takes over from the company’s Founder Rick Svetkoff, who resigned as CEO in February. Prior to his current role, Franta served as VP of Development, overseeing the STARLAUNCH air-launch system.
Tell us a bit about the differences between your suborbital flights for supersonic testing and the higher altitude orbital testing? How important is each for the company’s business?
At a high level, we operate across two related but distinct mission categories: supersonic atmospheric flight testing and suborbital air-launched missions, with a longer-term path toward orbital launch capability.
First, our supersonic flight testing provides customers with a repeatable Mach 2+ flight environment for payloads mounted underwing on our aircraft. This supports propulsion development, systems validation, and aerodynamic testing in realistic atmospheric conditions. The value proposition is access — customers can conduct contracted, commercially operated flight campaigns outside traditional government range constraints, with flexibility and repeatability.
Second, suborbital missions, including STARLAUNCH 1, extend beyond atmospheric captive-carry testing into rocket-powered, high-altitude profiles designed to support short-duration microgravity and data-gathering missions. In a suborbital flight, inclination is not relevant in the same way as orbital missions, because the payload is not entering sustained orbit – it reaches altitude and then returns to Earth.
More precise performance metrics for STARLAUNCH 1 are expected to be determined following the Critical Design Review (CDR), when key parameters such as total vehicle mass, fuel volume, launch altitude, and release speed at air launch are finalized. Customer requirements vary, but typical mission objectives may include achieving the highest possible altitude; maximizing time in microgravity; minimizing g-forces; maximizing g-forces; and accommodating payloads that must avoid direct solar exposure. Exact performance measures will ultimately be validated during flight testing.
What role do Starfighters Space and other relatively small companies like it play in the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) larger plan to build on its research and space capabilities? To what extent must the company align its offerings with the administration’s requirements? What are the opportunities/risks here?
Smaller, specialized providers can play a very practical role for the Department of Defense: we can offer mission-specific flight test services that are commercially operated and rapidly repeatable, which can help programs iterate faster than if everything is constrained by long lead times and limited availability on traditional government ranges.
You see that dynamic in the kinds of programs we support: for example, the recent GE Aerospace ATLAS flight campaign – funded by the DoD under Title III of the Defense Production Act – used our aircraft to conduct multiple supersonic captive-carry flights that supported propulsion technology advancement. That’s a good illustration of how commercial platforms can complement government infrastructure.
On alignment: when you work with government entities, you have to align to their requirements, policies, and funding realities – and those can change. Our public filings explicitly note that our business with governmental entities is subject to changes in government policies, regulations, mandates, and funding levels, among others, and may be negatively impacted by any such changes.
So the opportunity is meaningful. DoD-backed programs can provide durable demand signals, credibility, and follow-on work. The risk is concentration and volatility: shifts in priorities, contracting timelines, or funding can impact program cadence. We manage that by staying disciplined on program execution, documenting milestones, and building a broader base of customers over time.
Other than the U.S. government, what other clients/use cases do Starfighters’ flights serve? What role does Starfighters Space play in commercial space initiatives?
We support a mix of aerospace and defense development use cases where customers need access to a supersonic flight environment with underwing payload carriage and repeatable test profiles. Beyond government-funded programs, our filings also describe ancillary income from pilot training and equipment testing.
That reflects an important point: we’re structured to deliver contracted flight services tied to customer missions, rather than purely speculative technology development. In commercial space initiatives, we view our role as providing a platform that can bridge from atmospheric test to space-adjacent missions: operating from Kennedy Space Center, flying Mach 2+ aircraft, and progressing STARLAUNCH1 through validated separation work and disciplined engineering gates toward suborbital payload missions, with an intent to develop toward orbital capability over time.
Given some of the recent wins, what are the scaling plans at the company? And what are some of the regulatory or other challenges to scaling operations?
Our recent milestones are about de-risking and building a repeatable operating cadence—both in flight services and in STARLAUNCH 1 program execution. On scaling, there are really three layers:
Operational scaling: increasing aircraft utilization through repeatable customer campaigns and improving turn-times between missions.
Program scaling: moving STARLAUNCH 1 through structured engineering gates—like wind tunnel validation, procurement of instrumented demonstrator/drop articles, and a critical design review—so we can plan, build and test activities with discipline.
Commercial scaling: broadening the customer base and mission mix while maintaining safety, reliability, and compliance.
The key constraints when scaling in this domain are rarely just “demand” – they’re typically regulatory approvals, safety and range coordination, supply chain, and capital. In our filings, we note we are in the process of gaining a launch waiver and license for initial suborbital payload launches, and that we intend to develop infrastructure for orbital launch after successful suborbital flight. We also disclose going concern risk and the need to raise additional funds to execute the longer-term business plan.
So our approach is to stay methodical: build a track record through contracted missions, keep engineering milestones documented, and expand capacity in step with regulatory progress and financing availability.
Describe the kind of work Starfighters Space does in terms of supporting astronaut training for human spaceflight operations. What sort of growth is expected here as commercial spaceflights/ space travel advances?
We support space flight training and pilot training as part of our broader activity set operating from Kennedy Space Center, alongside research and advanced testing work. In practical terms, that training work can include high-performance flight experience, mission procedures, and flight operations support that are relevant to human spaceflight programs and the broader ecosystem of commercial space activity.
As commercial human spaceflight matures, we expect demand to grow for training capacity that is flexible, commercially scheduled, and integrated with other test and operations needs. The exact growth rate will depend on the cadence of commercial human spaceflight missions, customer demand, and how training requirements evolve – but we believe the long-term direction supports expanded need for specialized providers.