The mystery stock in Robert Kiyosaki’s latest space tease appears to be Starfighters Space (FJET).
The concept is genuinely interesting. Instead of launching from the ground, Starfighters plans to use modified F-104s as a reusable first stage, carrying a rocket to roughly 45,000 feet before release. That gives them some real advantages, such as less lower-atmosphere drag, flexible launch locations, reusable aircraft infrastructure, and potential value for hypersonic testing and small payloads.
But I’m skeptical of the teaser’s claim that this creates anything like a 10-to-1 fuel-cost advantage. I couldn’t find that number supported in the company’s SEC filings or current investor materials. And there’s a much bigger caveat, the company is still highly speculative. Its initial STARLAUNCH system is suborbital, the orbital version comes later, and FAA approval remains a critical hurdle.
So the real question isn’t whether they’ve found some magical launch cheat code. It’s whether an old fleet of Mach-2 fighter jets can actually become a commercially useful launch and hypersonic-testing platform.
Is this a brilliant niche strategy or another cool space concept that never becomes a viable business?
Great question I’ll keep an eye out to see what becomes of this company
I just remember that in Kerbal Space Program, SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) designs usually involved jet engines bringing the rocket to high altitude before firing the rocket engines themselves
No idea how realistic it is with current tech
The latter, payload size would be extremely limited so the cost-per-kg can't get nearly as low as a rideshare
45k feet is a rounding error too, first stages go 50-100 miles up