Starfighters Space Lands Share of $68M Hypersonic Award, Advances STARLAUNCH 1 Tests
Starfighters Space, among six firms sharing a $68 million Pentagon hypersonic award, completed ten wind tunnel runs on STARLAUNCH 1 at Mach 0.85 and 1.3 confirming CFD alignment. The firm is procuring test articles and conducted three supersonic flights for GE Aerospace’s ATLAS program with its Mach 2+ F-104 fleet.
1. Pentagon Awards $68 Million for Hypersonic Development
Starfighters Space was selected as one of six vendors to share a $68 million Pentagon hypersonic contract under the Joint Hypersonics Transition Office, aimed at accelerating Mach 5+ weapon technologies and next-generation flight testing infrastructure.
2. Successful Wind Tunnel Runs for STARLAUNCH 1
The company completed ten wind tunnel runs on its STARLAUNCH 1 air-launched suborbital vehicle at Mach 0.85 and 1.3, demonstrating strong agreement between computational fluid dynamics predictions and physical data and validating vehicle separation behavior.
3. Supersonic Flight Tests and Future Plans
Starfighters Space conducted three captive-carry supersonic flights for GE Aerospace’s ATLAS solid fuel ramjet program using its Mach 2+ F-104 fleet, and the firm is now procuring test articles to advance drop testing in actual flight conditions.