Starfighters Space, the innovative aerospace company, owner and operator of the world’s fastest fleet of commercial supersonic aircraft, together with Mu-g Technologies, an innovator focused on the development of microgravity research and flight test services, announced a significant expansion of its strategic partnership. Under a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Starfighters will assist Mu-g’s flight test program for its Dassault Falcon 50 from its facilities located within the Midland Air & Space Port (KMAF), and the two companies are jointly responding to NASA’s Request for Information for Parabolic Flight Services.
This partnership leverages the nearly 30-year relationship and combined experience between Starfighters CEO Tim Franta and Mu-g’s Founder Robert S. Ward. Mr. Ward states, “I am excited to be working with Tim again and the team at Starfighters to help both restore and expand our nation’s access to safe, reliable, high-quality, and long-duration reduced-gravity parabolas to assist critical research and development programs.”
Mu-g’s Falcon 50 aircraft, which will be modified for parabolic test flights, and will conduct its flight testing at Starfighters’ hangar at the Midland International Air & Space Port (KMAF). The co-location focuses on providing Mu-g with a robust environment for the rigorous flight testing of its Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft. To facilitate this critical developmental phase, Starfighters will support Mu-g flight testing from its facility at KMAF, including ground support, chase plane and data collection, expert pilot integration, and safety and regulatory alignment. This arrangement is designed to support the aircraft’s progression through intensive testing cycles until it successfully obtains FAA certification for its intended commercial mission.
Starfighters’ Midland facility is the Company’s second operating location, complementing its primary operations at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With Mu-g’s aircraft on-site, the Midland facility will be able to support both supersonic and microgravity flight operations.
Currently there is no commercial microgravity flight capability within North America. To address that lack of capability, Starfighters and Mu-g are jointly responding to NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Request for Information for Parabolic Flight Services, which seeks commercial capabilities to provide microgravity and reduced-gravity environments for technology testing and scientific research. The RFI specifically invites proposals involving novel or non-traditional flight platforms.
The joint response will combine Mu-g’s modified Falcon 50 and microgravity research expertise with Starfighters’ F-104 supersonic platform, flight operations infrastructure, and established relationships across the defense and aerospace research community. Together, the two companies offer NASA a complementary suite of capabilities spanning microgravity, reduced-gravity, hyper-gravity, and supersonic flight test environments.
“This partnership is a natural extension of what both companies do best,” said Tim Franta, CEO of Starfighters Space. “By bringing Mu-g’s Falcon 50 into our Midland facility, we are creating a single location where researchers and customers will be able to access both microgravity and supersonic test environments. Responding jointly to NASA’s RFI is the next step in building that offering into something the agency and the broader research community can rely on.”
The expanded partnership builds on the strategic framework the two companies established earlier this year, which includes shared hangar access, maintenance and ground support coordination, pilot integration, aerial photography and chase plane support, and joint business development across government and commercial aerospace contracts.
