Joby Aviation, Inc.

Issued on behalf of Starfighters Space

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- USANewsGroup.com News Commentary – The Pentagon's Joint Hypersonics Transition Office has awarded $68 million across six vendors to accelerate next-generation technologies capable of traveling faster than Mach 5^[1]. The U.S. Army has begun fielding Dark Eagle, the nation's first operational ground-launched hypersonic weapon, with delivery expected to complete in early 2026^[2]. Companies positioned at the intersection of commercial aerospace and defense testing include Starfighters Space (NYSE-A: FJET), Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS), and Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY).

Even private capital is flowing into the sector, with hypersonic testing companies securing major institutional investment to expand production capacity and flight cadence^[3]. As traditional government test ranges struggle to keep pace with development timelines, commercial operators with flight-proven supersonic and hypersonic platforms are drawing serious attention from defense agencies and prime contractors alike.

Starfighters Space (NYSE American: FJET) recently completed wind tunnel testing for STARLAUNCH 1, the company's air-launched sub-orbital vehicle designed for short-duration microgravity missions. Testing evaluated separation behavior at Mach 0.85 and Mach 1.3 across ten successful runs, with results showing strong agreement between computational fluid dynamics predictions and experimental data.

The company has now initiated procurement of instrumented drop test articles to evaluate separation dynamics under actual flight conditions.

"Demonstrating clean, predictable separation across these flight regimes is a foundational requirement for an air-launched system," said Rick Svetkoff, CEO of Starfighters Space. "The close alignment between our simulations and the wind tunnel results gives us confidence in the underlying design and allows us to proceed methodically to the next phase of testing."

Starfighters also recently completed a supersonic flight test campaign for GE Aerospace, in which a Starfighters F-104 aircraft carried an advanced propulsion test vehicle at supersonic speeds during three captive carry missions from Kennedy Space Center.

The work supports GE Aerospace's Atmospheric Test of Launched Air-breathing System (ATLAS) program, which is focused on advancing solid fuel ramjet propulsion technology. The ATLAS program receives funding from the U.S. Department of Defense under Title III of the Defense Production Act.

"The Starfighters team provided a reliable, flight-ready supersonic platform that enabled us to conduct multiple captive carry flights in realistic atmospheric conditions," said Mark Rettig, VP and GM of Edison Works Business and Technology Development at GE Aerospace. "Commercially operated test aircraft like Starfighters play an important role in accelerating development timelines by allowing repeatable, flexible flight testing outside of traditional range constraints."

Starfighters believes its fleet of F-104 aircraft is the only commercial fleet in the free world capable of carrying underwing test payloads at speeds greater than Mach 2, or more than 1,500 miles per hour.

In other industry developments:

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) recently announced preparations for its fourth hypersonic test mission in under six months, a dedicated HASTE launch named Cassowary Vex for the Defense Innovation Unit and Hypersonix. The mission, scheduled from Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia, will deploy the scramjet-powered DART AE vehicle, with HASTE supporting flight profiles up to Mach 20.

Now the company has positioned its HASTE suborbital launch vehicle as a rapid, flexible platform for hypersonic and defense testing, offering an alternative to traditional government test infrastructure. Rocket Lab continues to expand its Electron launch cadence alongside HASTE, with over 80 missions completed to date.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) recently completed its acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems, formerly Maxar Space Systems, for $800 million in a combination of cash and stock. The acquisition positions Intuitive Machines as a vertically integrated next-generation space prime contractor capable of building spacecraft, connecting resilient communications and navigation networks, and operating systems across LEO, MEO, GEO, and cislunar space.

"This acquisition marks a defining moment in the evolution of Intuitive Machines," said Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines. "We previously proved our ability to operate on the Moon. With Lanteris, we add flight-proven manufacturing at scale."

Intuitive Machines also successfully soft-landed two Nova-C class lunar landers in 2024 and 2025, returning the United States to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. The Lanteris acquisition strengthens the company's ability to service Golden Dome, Space Development Agency layered architecture, and NASA's Artemis and Lunar Terrain Vehicle initiatives.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) recently received contract awards valued at approximately $65 million to design, develop and deliver simulators and training solutions for warfighter operations across multiple aircraft platforms. Contracts include awards from the U.S. Department of War as well as allied nations.

"2025 was another growth year for Kratos, particularly in the domain of air-based system platforms," said Jose Diaz, SVP of Kratos Training Solutions. "Our customers deeply appreciate our successful delivery of cost-effective solutions that produce highly effective training outcomes."

Kratos continues to expand its defense portfolio beyond training into unmanned aerial systems and hypersonic technology, with the company delivering simulation and training solutions across ground combat, subsurface naval, surface navy, and unmanned combat aerial systems throughout 2025.

Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) recently announced an agreement to acquire a manufacturing facility in the Dayton, Ohio area spanning more than 700,000 square feet. The facility will initially support Joby's plans to double production to four aircraft per month in 2027, while also providing space for significant future growth.

"This site will not only support our near-term plan to double production, it can also serve as a base for significant future growth, as we turn a decade of engineering into the manufacturing scale the market is now demanding," said JoeBen Bevirt, CEO of Joby Aviation.

Joby completed landmark flights in Dubai in 2025 and plans to begin carrying passengers in 2026. The company has also partnered with L3Harris to pursue defense applications for autonomous hybrid VTOL aircraft, expanding its addressable market beyond commercial air mobility.

Article Source: https://usanewsgroup.com

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SOURCES:

1.   https://defensescoop.com/2026/02/12/pentagon-taps-6-vendors-for-accelerated-hypersonics-research-development/

2.   https://defensescoop.com/2026/01/21/dark-eagle-hypersonic-weapon-army-fielding-plans/

3.   https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stratolaunch-raises-significant-capital-to-further-accelerate-hypersonic-capability-at-scale-302665149.html

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Single-stock funds seek to provide 200% long exposure on a variety of industry leaders

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Tradr ETFs, a provider of ETFs designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders, today announced the launch of five new single stock leveraged ETFs. All five funds are first-to-market strategies and will be listed on Cboe. The funds aim to deliver twice (200%) the daily performance of a specific underlying stock.

Tradr launches:

• Tradr 2X Long CLSK Daily ETF (Cboe: CLSX) – tracks CleanSpark, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLSK)
• Tradr 2X Long CRDO Daily ETF (Cboe: CRDU) – tracks Credo Technology (Nasdaq: CRDO)
• Tradr 2X Long ENPH Daily ETF (Cboe: ENPX) – tracks Enphase Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENPH)
• Tradr 2X Long GS Daily ETF (Cboe: GSX) – tracks Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS)
• Tradr 2X Long U Daily ETF (Cboe: UNX) – tracks Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U)

"Tradr has created some significant momentum over the past five months by listening to active traders and building funds that help them reflect their high conviction bullish views," said Matt Markiewicz, Head of Product and Capital Markets at Tradr ETFs. "We expect all five of these ETFs to be well-received by investors looking to trade a variety of industry leaders such as Goldman Sachs, Unity and CleanSpark."

This latest launch follows last week's debut of six first-to-market leveraged single-stock ETFs:

• Tradr 2X Long APLD Daily ETF (APLX) – tracks Applied Digital Corp. (Nasdaq: APLD)
• Tradr 2X Long NBIS Daily ETF (NEBX) – tracks Nebius Group NV (Nasdaq: NBIS)
• Tradr 2X Long JOBY Daily ETF (JOBX) – tracks Joby Aviation Inc. (NYSE: JOBY)
• Tradr 2X Long NVTS Daily ETF (NVTX) – tracks Navitas Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: NVTS)
• Tradr 2X Long PONY Daily ETF (PONX) – tracks Pony AI Inc. (Nasdaq: PONY)
• Tradr 2X Long VOYG Daily ETF (VOYX) – tracks Voyager Technologies Inc. (NYSE: VOYG)

In 2022, Tradr ETFs became the first issuer to launch leveraged ETFs on single stocks, starting with TSLQ for Tesla and NVDS for Nvidia. With today's listings, Tradr's lineup has grown to 34 leveraged ETFs representing over $1.1 billion in assets under management. Tradr's strategies can be accessed through most brokerage platforms and allow investors to avoid the hassle of using margin and the complexity of options trading. The firm continues its mission of providing sophisticated investors with innovative trading tools that enhance their ability to express market views with precision and efficiency.

For detailed information on Tradr ETFs and the significant risks involved with leveraged ETFs, please visit www.tradretfs.com.

About Tradr ETFs

Tradr ETFs are designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders who are looking to express high conviction investment views. The strategies include leveraged and inverse ETFs that seek short or long exposure to actively traded stocks and ETFs.

IMPORTANT RISK INFORMATION

Tradr ETFs are for sophisticated investors and professional traders with high conviction views and are very different from most other ETFs. The Funds are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles and pursue leveraged investment objectives, which means they are riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Funds magnify the performance of their underlying security. The volatility of the underlying security may affect a Fund's return as much as, or more than, the return of the underlying security.

Investors in the fund should: (a) understand the risks associated with the use of leverage; (b) understand the consequences of seeking inverse and leveraged investment results; (c) for short ETFs, understand the risk of shorting; (d) intend to actively monitor and manage their investment. Fund performance will likely be significantly different than the benchmark over periods longer than the specified reset period and the performance may trend in the opposite direction than its benchmark over periods other than that period.

Leverage increases the risk of a total loss of an investor's investment, may increase the volatility of the Funds, and may magnify any differences between the performance of the Funds and their reference security. The Funds seek leveraged investment results for a specific period (daily, monthly or quarterly). The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intra-period will depend upon the movement of the reference security from the end of the prior period until the time of investment by the investor.

The Fund will not attempt to position its portfolio to ensure it does not gain or lose more than a maximum percentage of its net asset value on a given trading day. As a consequence, investors in a Fund that seeks two times daily performance would lose all of their money if the Fund's underlying security moves more than 50% in a direction adverse to the Fund on a given trading day.

ETFs involve risk including possible loss of the full principal value. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Principal risks and other important risks may be found in the prospectus. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

ETF shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the ETF. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for ETF shares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue or remain unchanged. Buying or selling ETF shares on an exchange may require the payment of brokerage commissions and frequent trading may incur brokerage costs that detract significantly from investment returns.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Funds. This and other important information about the Fund is contained in the Prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting www.tradretfs.com. The Prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc, which is not affiliated with AXS Investments or its Tradr ETFs. AXI000753

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SOURCE Tradr ETFs