Starfighters Space to display F-104 jets at NASA airshow

Starfighters Space, Inc. (NYSE American: FJET) announced it will participate in NASA's MAX POWER aerospace expo and airshow on Nov. 7-8 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, featuring its F-104 supersonic jets in both flight demonstrations and static displays.

The inaugural NASA-sponsored event will celebrate America's 250th anniversary and the past, present, and future of aviation and space exploration.

The F-104 aircraft will be piloted by Piercarlo Ciacchi, the company's Director of Flight Operations, who has logged more than 7,000 flight hours across various aircraft types. Ciacchi previously flew the F-104 in the Italian Air Force and served on Italy's National Aerobatic Team.

The F-104 has historical ties to NASA, having been used to train Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts and to test heat shield tiles for the Space Shuttle. The aircraft set world records in the 1950s and 1960s for speed at 1,404.9 mph, altitude at 103,395 feet, and time-to-climb from ground to 25,000 meters in 266.03 seconds.

More than 2,500 F-104s were built beginning in 1954. Italy was the last nation to operate the jet in military service, retiring its fleet in 2004. Starfighters acquired several aircraft and engines from that retired inventory.

According to the company, Starfighters operates the only commercial fleet of flight-ready Mach 2+ supersonic aircraft, based at Kennedy Space Center and the Midland International Air & Space Port in Texas. The aircraft are used for hypersonic system testing, microgravity science, spaceflight hardware testing, and pilot training.

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