(WSVN) - Miami Beach is known for its ocean, nightclubs and fun, but a group of young entrepreneurs is putting the beach on the map for a different reason. In this special assignment report, 7’s Brian Entin shows us how they’re “Shooting for the Stars.”
A few blocks from the ocean, in an unassuming office building across the street from Starbucks, is Stara.
A very unique Miami Beach startup with an out-of-this world mission.
Tyler Diaz, CEO, Stara: “You have fashion, movies, TV shows, great food, great beaches. Why not space?”
On the fourth floor, with algorithms all over the walls, 27-year-old Tyler Diaz and his team are designing miniature satellites.
They use an enormous 3D printer to design the parts.
Stara’s small satellites will help bigger satellites send pictures and other information back to Earth.
That information is critical for weather forecasting, tracking planes and ships, and monitoring the effects of climate change.
Tyler Diaz: “We help satellites talk to Earth because, today, it is very hard.”
Stara is funded by private investors, and much of what goes on inside this building is secret. The company will be put to the test later this year when their satellites are sent into space for the first time.
A prototype will be loaded onto a rocket in New Zealand and launched into orbit.
It’s the moment the millennials at Stara have been waiting for.
Silas Hoffstaetter, Stara: “It all depends on how it is going to turn out, but I’ll just be really happy that something I made is out there.”
Tyler Diaz: “I’ll probably be holding my breath until it gets to orbit. It will be the longest four minutes of my life, probably.”
Not long ago, anything space related was handled by NASA, but now, private businesses are leading the charge.
Everyone has heard of SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, but the small startup Stara, right on Miami Beach, is hoping to break into the space race of the future.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.