Rocket Lab

Cape Canaveral, Fla. – September 14, 2026 -- Starfighters Space, Inc. (NYSE American: FJET) has entered a memorandum of understanding with Vaya Defense & Space, Inc. to jointly evaluate captive-carry flight testing and air-launch propulsion, targeting a gap in hypersonic development where demand for test flights has outrun available capacity. The global hypersonic technology market is valued at approximately US$8.49 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach roughly US$15.73 billion by 2030, according to Research and Markets, a compound annual growth rate of about 13.2%.

Orlando, Fla. – September 11, 2026 -- Backswing Ventures, an early-stage defense venture capital firm, is underwriting every investment in its portfolio for an independent 3-5x return rather than betting the fund on a single breakout winner.

Carta data shows unicorn payouts are stalling, not disappearing

Among 2017 and 2018 vintage venture funds old enough to have realized outcomes, fewer than 20% have returned even 1x DPI to limited partners, according to Carta's Q1 2026 fund-performance data. Backswing argues paper valuations do not pay LPs back; distributions do.

SpaceX illustrates the timeline problem at scale. Founded in 2002, the company did not deliver a liquid outcome to shareholders until its initial public offering closed in June 2026 -- 24 years later.