Space Transport and Recovery Systems, LLC (STAR Systems) is a startup aerospace venture dedicated to providing affordable access to space with the Hermes spacecraft: a suborbital space shuttle for everyone, built on the premise that anyone should be able to take a trip into space without spending their life savings. By combining the latest commercially available advances in materials science and hardware with over 60 years of lessons learned in aerospace technology and a “build-a-little, test-a-lot” mantra, STAR Systems is poised to become a leader in providing lower cost, high frequency access to suborbital space on-demand for space tourists, academia and technology developers. Come join us for the ride, the sky is no longer the limit!
What We Do
At STAR Systems our primary focus is the synergistic development of the Hermes spacecraft and its constituent structural, propulsion, avionics and life support subsystems. The primary academic discipline behind this development is aerospace engineering. As defined by the United States Department of Labor:
Aerospace engineers design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles, and supervise the production of these products. Those who work with aircraft are called aeronautical engineers, and those working specifically with spacecraft are astronautical engineers. Aerospace engineers develop new technologies for use in aviation, defense systems, and space exploration, often specializing in areas such as structural design, guidance, navigation and control, instrumentation and communication, or production methods. They also may specialize in a particular type of aerospace product, such as commercial aircraft, military fighter jets, helicopters, spacecraft, or missiles and rockets, and may become experts in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, celestial mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, or guidance and control systems.
Aerospace engineering is by no means the only discipline involved, however. Other engineering disciplines such as mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as non-engineering disciplines such as business, marketing and public policy, are also hard at work. These disciplines and more are synthesized together under our development program to implement the Hermes spacecraft.
Location
STAR Systems, LLC is located in the Phoenix metropolitan area of Arizona in the American Southwest, a region known worldwide for cutting-edge aerospace research and development due to its open spaces away from populated areas. With the Mojave desert in Southern California to the west, White Sands and America's Space Port in New Mexico to the east, and aerospace development and testing grounds in Nevada and Utah to the North, Arizona is centered in a region that has played host to such notable R&D programs as the V-2 rocket, X-15 hypersonic research aircraft, the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, and even Space Shuttle operations.
History in a Nutshell
The Hermes spacecraft was originally conceptualized in 1978 by aerospace entrepreneur, Morris Jarvis. Between 1978 and 1993, Morris conducted intensive study into NASA's Space Shuttle program, interviewed astronauts and NASA engineers, and worked on countless spacecraft designs and numerous models for the Hermes. In 1993, he founded "Satellite Transport and Retrieval Systems, Inc" (STAR Systems, Inc.) to begin experimental prototype development of Hermes spacecraft subsystems. In 2000, as steady progress was being made on the Hermes spacecraft concept, STAR Systems was transformed into "Space Transport and Recovery Systems, Inc" to begin seeking the larger scale funding necessary to continue development of the spacecraft. By 2003, sufficient progress had been made in prototype development of several spacecraft subsystems to garner significant funding from sponsors and begin full-scale prototype development of the Hermes spacecraft. Between 2003 and 2008 these prototype subsystems were synthesized together into the Hermes prototype aerodyne which was intended to be used as a proof-of-concept, low-speed flight test model for substantiating the design of the vehicle.
In 2008, significant sponsorship funding was again received to prepare the Hermes spacecraft prototype for travel and display at numerous events around the country. These efforts culminated in the Hermes spacecraft gaining media attention after being towed across the Bay Bridge and being showcased at the 2008 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. After coming to the brink of success and poised to take the next steps towards flight tests at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Morris Jarvis, the founder of STAR Systems and the Hermes spacecraft, was transferred overseas for work related purposes outside his control. Due to this circumstance, the Hermes spacecraft project began to experience a decline in notable progress and completed milestones which, by the summer of 2009, ultimately caused STAR Systems, Inc. and the Hermes spacecraft project to lapse into a period of hibernation.
Concurrent Efforts
During this time and prior, starting in 2004, after realizing the inability of national space programs to effectively develop affordable spaceflight under a government operating model, aerospace entrepreneurs, Kris Schneider and Mark Longanbach, were concurrently working on a business venture to develop an architecture of commoditized space transportation systems through a step-by-step "build-a-little, test-a-lot" development process. Between 2005 and 2007, numerous preliminary studies were conducted to research the core factors affecting lower cost space transportation system development, and to conceptualize the vehicles necessary to comprise such an architecture. Based on the results of market research and the notable progress of other private, commercial spaceflight ventures, it was determined at that time that the development of lower cost, suborbital spacecraft for space tourism represented the greatest near-term potential, in both profit and development feasibility, to jump starting the development of a space transportation architecture.
Based on their preliminary studies, it was also determined at that time that a significant factor affecting efficient space transportation system development was propulsion system development. It was further determined that a hybrid rocket propulsion system represented the most practical and feasible type of rocket for developing a more robust, lower cost, commoditized rocket propulsion system for implementation into lower cost, suborbital spacecraft. Based on these determinations, Kris Schneider and Mark Longanbach set forth conceptualizing and designing such a hybrid rocket propulsion system known as the "Enabling Hybrid Rocket Propulsion System" (EHRPS), which was named as such to signify its desired ability to jump start and enable development of the conceptualized space transportation architecture. Soon after, SDG Technologies Corporation was established to oversee research and development of the architecture and begin business development for a suborbital spacecraft to enable lower cost suborbital spaceflight. In 2007, a small, private investment was received to begin small-scale, proof-of-concept prototype development of the EHRPS for the purpose of demonstrating a commoditized business model for rocket propulsion systems development and operations.
In 2008, Kris sought to gain experience in the political and legislative aspects of the aerospace and defense industry and accepted an internship in aerospace public policy in Washington D.C. During that time he reviewed congressional legislation and met with members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill to advocate the needs of the aerospace industry and the importance of human spaceflight to the United States.
In 2009, Kris then traveled to NASA Ames Research Center in Northern California to present the suborbital spacecraft and EHRPS concepts to venture capitalists, engineers and the media at a conference and business plan competition held in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. While positive feedback was received at the event, Kris determined that due to growing national economic turmoil at the time, the near-term possibility of securing private investments to continue development of the suborbital spacecraft and EHRPS concepts on a larger scale was low. Based on recommendations received at the event, the next year was devoted to revising the business development of the concepts and conceptualizing ways to achieve a substantially more attainable break-even point with a greater potential for return-on-investment. In June of 2010, Kris Schneider and Mark Longanbach resolved to complete development of the EHRPS concept prototype, with a successful static test-firing of the prototype conducted in July 2010. At that time, realizing the need for a more narrow focus towards propulsion system development, SDG Technologies Corporation was transformed into "Enabling Hybrid Rocket Propulsion System Program, LLC" (EHRPS Program) to oversee development of the EHRPS concept.
In August of 2010, STAR Systems, Inc and EHRPS Program, LLC, separately submitted proposals for the suborbital spacecraft and EHRPS concepts to the NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program requesting federal funding to continue development of the concepts on a larger scale. However, due to continuing national economic turmoil from what is now regarded as the "Great Recession", and due to the competitive nature of the NASA SBIR Program, it was separately determined by both companies that the near-term possibility of securing federal funding was also low.
A New Era of Cooperation
In October of 2010, realizing that they had similar ventures, similar business plans and forecasts, similar design concepts, a similar long-term vision for private, commercial space transportation systems development, similar barriers-to-entry, and had separately focused on different aspects of prototype development towards similar suborbital spacecraft in a similar locale, the managers of STAR Systems, Inc, Morris Jarvis and Robert Camiano, and the managers of EHRPS Program, LLC, Kris Schneider and Mark Longanbach, collectively met and determined that cooperation, instead of competition, would be needed to overcome the barriers-to-entry facing both ventures, and thus collectively resolved to join resources and expertise into a single venture.
Between October 2010 and September 2011, thousands of dollars of personal funds and hundreds of man hours were invested by Morris, Robert, Kris and Mark, to reinvigorate the Hermes spacecraft and its prototype subsystems in preparation for private, commercial spaceflight, the four of whom became the managers of that effort. During this development period the managers resolved to scale up the EHRPS concept prototype to a larger, demonstration prototype rocket to test and evaluate the EHRPS concept and demonstrate to investors the commoditized business model for rocket propulsion system development and operations enabled by its intellectual property. These efforts culminated in a successful static test-firing of the rocket on July 23, 2011.
In October of 2011, having the necessary prototype hardware in place, the managers resolved to also reinvigorate STAR Systems as a limited liability company to begin a final push towards funding to complete development of the Hermes spacecraft in preparation for suborbital spaceflight. This Resolution (STARSYS-RES-2011-001) of the managers was signed into action on October 16th, 2011, thus setting the stage for the next steps in the Hermes story. STAR Systems, LLC is the cooperative result of a sum total of 25 years of development in private, commercial space transportation system design and development.