Twenty Years of Near-Space Flight Test.
Real Flight Test. Real Data.
StratoStar Systems is the firm-fixed-price, rapid-turnaround near-space flight test provider. For more than 20 years and 1,000+ missions, we've flown hardware to the edge of space and brought back the data — and the hardware — that move programs forward.
Our Story
StratoStar started with a simple idea: make learning real. For over 20 years we've flown student-built experiments into near-space — and somewhere along the way, the aerospace industry noticed that the same flights could de-risk real hardware.
Today StratoStar operates two flight test divisions. Our Space Flight Test division serves CubeSat developers, component manufacturers, prime contractors, and defense and research programs that need real flight-heritage data. Our UAS Flight Test division qualifies stratospheric payloads — EO/IR, RF, SATCOM, and ISR sensors — bound for HAPS, HALE platforms, and high-altitude balloon programs.
And we still fly student projects. Because the principle that makes us a good flight test partner for engineers makes us a good lab partner for educators: we fly alongside you, not ahead of you. Your mission advances. Your team learns. Your project moves forward.
Flight Test Heritage
1,000+
Missions Flown
99%+
Recovery Rate
20+
Years of Operations
100K ft
Max Altitude
How We Show Up
Engineer for Others
We're not here to build our own reputation or advance our own interests. We're here to advance yours. Every engagement leaves your team more capable — not more dependent on us.
We Fly Alongside
We don't fly ahead of you and hand back a verdict. We solve problems with your team, not for them. We bring 20 years of near-space experience to the parts you don't want to build twice — and you stay the expert on your hardware.
Real Flight Test. Real Data.
We deliver integrated, in-situ flight data earlier in your development process than you thought possible. Not a fragmented set of chamber tests — a real flight, in the real environment, with a package your team can take straight to a program review.
Based in Indianapolis
StratoStar Systems LLC is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. We conduct flight test operations from multiple launch sites across the central United States, with additional operations capability from Lander, Wyoming. Our operations are US-based and US-person-operated.