The Kennedy House Middle-based analysis, take a look at, and now area launch firm Starfighters Worldwide, which has been flying F-104 Starfighters privately for many years is now, is within the strategy of buying a dozen F-4 Phantoms. The deal would see the enduring third-generation Chilly Warfare fighters fly primarily in service of the agency’s area launch operations, which purpose to offer speedy and versatile entry to low Earth orbit (LEO) for small satellites, in addition to suborbital choices.
Starfighters Worldwide started as an organization round three many years in the past, and grew from doing air reveals to turning into largely a analysis and improvement assist agency with a really distinctive tackle. The corporate and its fleet of vintage Mach 2-capable F-104 Starfighters, which incorporates seven airframes at this time, moved into Kennedy House Middle in 2007. There they’d have entry to arguably one of the vital well-known and largest runways on earth, the Shuttle Touchdown Facility. Now they’re within the strategy of constructing a 150,000-square-foot facility in Midland, Texas, to assist the agency’s extra formidable area launch goals.
And that is exactly the place the F-4 Phantoms come into play.
Whereas the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is able to zooming up into the stratosphere at excessive velocity, they can not carry heavier, outsized launch autos on the required efficiency that may permit bigger payloads to be inserted into low Earth orbit. The F-4s — no less than in idea — can.
In an April 2025 SEC submitting, the agency, which is present process a serious fundraising drive, said that it’s within the strategy of buying a dozen F-4s, all from South Korean shares. Further assist plane — a DC-9 and MD-80 — are additionally being perused. The submitting reads, partly:
“On October 31, 2024, our wholly owned subsidiary, Starfighters Worldwide entered into an plane acquisition settlement (the “Plane Settlement”) with Aerovision LLC, a Florida restricted legal responsibility firm (“Aerovision”), pursuant to which Starfighters Worldwide agreed to buy from Aerovision numerous used plane and related spare gear (the “Plane Transactions”) in phases. The Plane Settlement contemplates that every Plane Transaction shall be accomplished pursuant to a definitive settlement (every, a “Definitive Settlement”) to be settled between the events, in every case with a corresponding invoice of sale and related closing paperwork. The Plane Settlement supplies that it, and any Definitive Settlement entered into by the events, could also be amended and/or prolonged in writing by the events on a case-by-case foundation.
The topic plane for acquisition pursuant to the Plane Settlement are: (i) twelve F-4 Phantom II plane, (ii) one MD-83 with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) Registration N572AA, and (iii) one DC-9 with FAA Registration N932NA. The topic plane are used-serviceable surplus plane supplied on an “as-is-where-is” foundation, with no guarantee categorical or implied. The twelve F-4 Phantom II plane have not too long ago been decommissioned by the Republic of Korea Air Power, and must be registered with the FAA after they’re imported into the US from South Korea.
The Plane Settlement requires an preliminary deposit advance within the quantity of $5,000,000.00 to be made no later than ten enterprise days from the signing of the Plane Settlement, which has been paid from funds obtained from the Firm’s Regulation A Tier 2 Providing. The fee of the deposit is taken into account to represent “Section 1” underneath the Plane Settlement.
Section 2 will contain the fee of an extra $5,000,000.00 for the acquisition of eight of the twelve F-4 Phantom II plane. Such fee is due no later than December 15, 2024.
Section 3 will contain the fee of an extra $5,000,000.00 for the acquisition of the ultimate 4 F-4 Phantom II plane. Such fee is due no later than March 15, 2025.
Section 4 shall contain the fee of an extra $5,000,000.00 for the acquisition of the MD-83 plane with FAA Registration N572AA, and the DC-9 plane with FAA Registration N932NA. The events are to make use of their cheap greatest efforts to finish Section 4 by April 15, 2025.“
It’s value noting that South Korea retired its final upgraded F-4E Phantoms a yr in the past, which you’ll learn all about on this previous function.
South Korean F-4Es simply previous to retirement. (ROKAF)
There are presently no F-4s registered to Starfighters Worldwide within the FAA database. Importing fighters, particularly ones as succesful because the Phantom, is a fancy, very costly course of, and tightly managed in numerous methods, together with via U.S. Worldwide Site visitors in Arms Rules (ITAR).
If the deal is transferring ahead as deliberate, delays wouldn’t be stunning. Past financing, when coping with the switch of succesful and lethal army {hardware} from one nation to a different, and particularly from authorities to personal palms, different elements can emerge just about from nowhere. Working example, from the identical SEC submitting:
“On account of the present political state of affairs in South Korea, Starfighters Worldwide has been unable to view the F-4 Phantom II plane initially contemplated underneath the Plane Settlement to be acquired from the Republic of South Korea Air Power, and neither Starfighters Worldwide nor Aerovision have been in a position to verify the continued availability of such plane. As such, Starfighters Worldwide didn’t pay the Section 1 preliminary deposit advance nor the Section 2 fee supplied for underneath the Plane Settlement. On or about January 28, 2025, Starfighters Worldwide and Aerovision verbally agreed to amend the Plane Settlement concerning the Plane Transactions, pursuant to which:
(i) Starfighters Worldwide might elect to not proceed with Section 3 and/or Section 4;
(ii) The preliminary deposit advance of $5,000,000.00 is damaged down into two funds of $2,500,000.00 every, with the primary fee to be made on or earlier than January 31, 2025 (which was paid on January 24, 2025), and the second fee to be made inside 10 days of Aerovision executing a binding settlement to amass a minimal of eight F-4 Phantom II plane from an alternate provider(s);
(iii) The due date for fee related to Section 2 is amended to be inside 5 days of Aerovision offering affirmation of transport of the F-4 Phantom II plane to the Firm from the purpose of origin;
(iv) The due date for fee related to Section 3, if Starfighters Worldwide elected to proceed, is amended to be October 31, 2025;
(v) The due date for fee related to Section 4, if Starfighters Worldwide elected to proceed, is amended to be January 31, 2026.“
Whereas the submitting doesn’t elaborate on the “present political state of affairs in South Korea” at problem, the nation continues to be coping with the aftermath of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial legislation on December 3, 2024. Yoon, who was subsequently impeached and faraway from workplace, is now on trial after having been charged with main an rebellion. South Korea’s relations with North Korea are additionally removed from the very best they’ve been.
If sourcing turns into a main problem, F-4s ought to be accessible from different pleasant international locations. Greece is winding down its Phantom operations and Turkey will finally ship the final of its F-4s out to pasture. Others have retired the sort in recent times, resembling Japan.
We requested Starfighters Worldwide in regards to the standing of the F-4 acquisition. They couldn’t present more information, stating:
“We’re very excited for the long run prospects of the corporate, however we can’t touch upon the F-4s right now.”
Whereas corporations have come and gone attempting to interrupt into the area entry recreation utilizing fixed-wing plane as launch platforms earlier than Starfighters Worldwide, the timing is arguably fairly good for the corporate.
The area entry market has exploded in recent times, as has the monetary funding in it. Particularly, the flexibility to place smaller payloads into orbit a lot quicker and extra flexibly is a market space that has nice curiosity. Proper now, placing a satellite tv for pc into orbit weighing tons of, not hundreds of kilos, is in lots of circumstances tied to the schedules of bigger space-launch payloads and the frilly programs that put them into orbit. In different phrases, these smaller satellites typically need to hitch rides atop rockets alongside bigger ones.
This implies clients are married to another person’s timeline, which will be years in size. Contemplating the first payload is paying many of the invoice, delays in that extra advanced payload can push again launches. Once more, that is all exterior of the smaller buyer’s management. Then there may be simply the need for flexibility — with the ability to shortly launch as wanted and from the place it’s most advantageous to the required orbit. This isn’t a factor for conventional area launch companies.
Having cost-effective and extremely adaptable launch choices for these smaller clients additionally suits into NASA’s purpose at commercializing LEO and increasing entry to it. Above all else, the U.S. army is searching for this stage of flexibility throughout its payload lessons as area turns into extra contested and the technological evolution of payloads is outpacing launch schedules.
Payloads are additionally shrinking as know-how quickly evolves, which means extra succesful smaller satellites will solely improve in quantity, and quickly so. That is very true as satellite tv for pc constellations proliferate.
Nonetheless, as famous earlier, the idea of area launch utilizing fixed-wing mothership/launch plane as a primary ‘stage’ has been suffering from damaged goals and unrealized ideas. However, Starfighters Worldwide has been round for a very long time and has survived offering take a look at, coaching, and different assist merchandise to key trade gamers. In addition they have already got an extended operational file of flying very high-performance army fighter plane and clearly have deep roots within the spaceflight neighborhood.
Because it sits now, the agency sees its F-104s offering suborbital payload launches, which provide minutes of microgravity, to clients who must experiment in that atmosphere. This shall be through their Starlaunch 1 rocket. The Starlaunch 2 rocket, which the F-4 will presumably carry, will present LEO entry, or no less than heavier LEO entry than what the Starfighter can present. A single rocket can carry one payload or over a dozen smaller ones.
Lastly, there may be a hypersonic testing angle that will have potential with a bigger and extra highly effective plane just like the F-4 as a launch platform. Most famously, Stratolaunch pivoted away from an area launch enterprise mannequin to at least one targeted on supporting hypersonic testing. After all, this instance is on the opposite finish of the spectrum in terms of mothership measurement and capabilities, however smaller hypersonic autos will even be wanted for take a look at and analysis efforts because the army’s demand for these weapons will increase.
If Starfighters Worldwide can pull off its F-4 acquisition, these plane would be a part of only one flight-worthy Phantom in the US, an F-4D that belongs to the Collins Basis. We reached out to the nonprofit as to the standing of their Phantom. They informed us it’s in flyable situation, but it surely has not flown for plenty of years as a result of price related to working it.
This underlines simply how costly it’s to fly something like an F-4. The F-104s function one J79 turbojet, whereas the F-4s have two. The gasoline burn alone is a frightening expense — one in every of many who Starfighters Worldwide must confront to maintain the F-4s flying and their pilots present. Nonetheless, at this time there are extra superior fighter plane than the F-4 flying in non-public palms in the US, and efficiently for enterprise functions.
Regardless, if the South Korean jets make it to the US and into the skies, they would be the solely actively flying F-4s within the nation.
Hopefully, the corporate can share extra about its potential as an F-4 Phantom operator within the close to future.
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