Starfighters Space CEO Resigns
The CEO of Starfighters Space, an aerospace engineering firm, has resigned from the company. The departure comes amid a reported dispute with the board of directors, signaling leadership volatility at the company.
- The departing CEO, Rick Svetkoff, is also the founder of Starfighters, having started the company in 1996 after a career as a U.S. Navy pilot and a commercial airline pilot. His wife, Brenda Svetkoff, also resigned from her position as Company Secretary. - The resignations were attributed to disagreements with the Board of Directors concerning the company's operations, policies, and practices. Starfighters Space has stated that it "respectfully disagrees with the assertions and characterizations" in the resignation letters. - This leadership change occurred shortly after the company went public on the NYSE American stock exchange and completed a $40 million IPO in December 2025. - The new CEO is Tim Franta, who has been with the company since October 2022 as the Vice President of Development, where he led the development of the STARLAUNCH air-launch system. - Starfighters operates the world's largest commercial fleet of Lockheed F-104 Starfighters, a supersonic aircraft that first flew in 1954. The company uses these jets for services like high-speed testing, research support, and developing air-launch systems for satellites. - Headquartered at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the company is also expanding its operations to Midland, Texas, to gain better access to nine air and spaceport locations in the southwestern United States. - A law firm has initiated an investigation into whether Starfighters complied with federal securities laws following the share price drop after the resignation announcement. - The company is actively working on its STARLAUNCH program, a system designed to air-launch rockets from its F-104s to deliver payloads into space. They recently completed wind tunnel testing for the system and a supersonic test campaign with GE Aerospace.
