Starfighters Space, Inc. (NYSE American: FJET) announced it is advancing its STARLAUNCH™ 1 suborbital development vehicle toward a planned captive-carry flight in December, according to a company press release.

The company has finalized the STARLAUNCH™ 1 airframe design and ordered flight hardware from Italian engineering firm Robby Moto Engineering S.R.L. The hardware is expected to arrive at Starfighters' Kennedy Space Center hangar in November, after which the team will assemble and test the rocket-aircraft interface ahead of the flight.

The planned flight would take place between Kennedy Space Center and the FAA-licensed Cecil Spaceport in Jacksonville, Florida. The mission is intended to demonstrate the rocket's flight characteristics and test aircraft integration procedures.

Starfighters also indicated the flight may carry its Wind Tunnel in the Sky™ hardware under the opposite wing on a customer-funded rideshare mission, serving simultaneously as a counterweight for aerodynamic stability.

"The planned captive-carry flight would move STARLAUNCH™ 1 from design and ground-based development into flight testing," said Tim Franta, CEO of Starfighters Space. "Our approach is deliberately incremental: build the hardware, integrate it with the aircraft, fly it, collect data, and use those results to advance toward separation and powered flight."

Data from the December flight is also expected to support propulsion partner Vaya Defense & Space in developing a hybrid rocket motor aligned with STARLAUNCH™ 1 specifications.

Piercarlo Ciacchi, Director of Flight Operations and Chief Pilot, said the company plans to follow the December mission with a drop test over the Atlantic Ocean and then a demonstration of the integrated propulsion system. Development of a STARLAUNCH™ 2 vehicle would run concurrently with the STARLAUNCH™ 1 program.