Market

SECTOR GROWTH

Starfighters Space is poised to service one of the largest growing economies. Over the past several decades, space and satellite technology has become the invisible foundation of our digital world.

14x Increase 2020 – 2029¹

38,000+ satellites to be built and launched over the next decade.

Projected satellite launches

1. Based on Euroconsult and Starfighters estimated 2. Euroconsult derived estimates based on 7,015 satellites with a known mass 3. Based on Euroconsult and Starfighters estimate

DILEMMA FOR SMALLSAT OPERATORS: COST vs PAYLOAD

(Click titles below to select launch method)

Rideshare

Purchase of available or underutilized space on larger launch vehicles.

PROS

CONS

Only large payloads are economical (smallest to date, on test flight, 0.5 tonnes)
Extended lead times
Lack of schedule control
Results in sub-optimal orbits
Large environmental impact
Safety risk associated with liquid rocket fuel
Hidden costs due to engineering and integration

Dedicated Launch

A dedicated launch vehicle to lift the payload.

PROS

CONS

STARFIGHTERS SPACE

A dedicated launch vehicle to lift the payload – multiple times.

PROS

Affordable $15k (est.) per kg for a ‘taxi’ to your EXACT target location
Improved control of schedule, launch date, launch site and destination orbit
Fastest turnaround from order to launch, with multiple launch vehicles available delivering much quicker cadence
Minimal environmental impact
Proven first-stage launch vehicle with thousands of missions over 60 years.

CONS

BIGGER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER: SCALE IMPACTS SERVICE PRICE

Payload – Cost/KG*

Company	Vehicle	Cost / kg (US$)
Rocket Lab	Electron	$24,000
Virgin Galactic	LauncherOne	$24,000
Firefly	Alpha	$15,000
Russia	Soyuz-2.1a	$19,900
ArianeSpace*	Ariane 5	$10,200
SpaceX*	Falcon 9	¢16,093
SpaceX*	Falcon Heavy	$18,500
Starfighters	STARLAUNCH II (initial)	$22,000
Starfighters	STARLAUNCH II (scale)	$15,000

*Subsidized

*All cost calculations are estimated from publicly available online data such as company websites and independent reporting compiled by Starfighters Space

https://aerospace.csis.org/data/space-launch-to-low-earth-orbit-how-much-does-it-cost/

https://www.newspace.im/assets/fig/Newspace_launchers_costsperkgperf_2022-01-01.pdf

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=55606.msg2331202#msg2331202

LAUNCH VEHICLE STAGE ANALYSIS

Fuel costs are 10x cheaper and 2x lighter for a jet vs. rocket propulsion.