WASHINGTON — Redwire House is doubling down on curiosity within the rising marketplace for very low Earth orbit (VLEO) satellites by providing a second spacecraft platform from its European subsidiary.
In a Could 9 earnings name, Redwire introduced a VLEO satellite tv for pc platform known as Phantom, developed by the corporate’s European enterprise unit in Belgium. Phantom is being developed for the European House Company’s Skimsat mission, on which Redwire is partnered with Thales Alenia House, and is now being provided for European and worldwide prospects.
Phantom joins SabreSat, a VLEO satellite tv for pc Redwire introduced in its earlier earnings name in March that’s being developed by the corporate in the USA. The 2 designs use completely different applied sciences.
“SabreSat and Phantom don’t share a typical technological baseline. They’re two completely different platforms with completely different underlying applied sciences and efficiency parameters,” Peter Cannito, chief government of Redwire, mentioned on the decision. “Completely different approaches cut back danger and allow us to cowl a broader set of buyer necessities.”
The Phantom bus is designed for missions at orbits beneath 300 kilometers, the place atmospheric drag performs a a lot bigger function, requiring extra aerodynamic designs and propulsion to keep up orbit. Phantom can accommodate payloads weigh as much as 50 kilograms, with a complete spacecraft mass of as much as 300 kilograms, in accordance with firm paperwork. The spacecraft makes use of electrical propulsion to keep up its orbit for missions lasting so long as 5 years.
Firm officers mentioned on the GEOINT Symposium this week that they had been seeing curiosity in SabreSat from U.S. authorities companies thinking about a platform that might supply higher imaging decision from working in a decrease orbit in addition to improved resiliency. Cannito mentioned on the decision that the corporate has received a research contract for SabreSat from an undisclosed buyer.
“This can be a very thrilling indicator that the market acknowledges SabreSat’s potential as a crucial functionality,” he mentioned. “We’re very inspired with the reception that SabreSat has obtained since our announcement and we proceed to pursue significant alternatives for this doubtlessly groundbreaking VLEO spacecraft.”
He known as each SabreSat and Phantom a “leap-ahead alternative” for the corporate to benefit from rising curiosity in VLEO programs. “We’re fairly far forward now relative to the general trade improvement of spacecraft in VLEO.”
These platforms are additionally a part of a technique that the corporate introduced earlier this 12 months to maneuver up the worth chain from a provider to a first-rate contractor. “We’re bidding extra as a first-rate than we’ve got up to now,” he mentioned.
Redwire was among the many 9 corporations that received NASA research contracts introduced Could 1 to refine ideas for industrial Mars missions to hold out purposes resembling imaging and communications. Redwire’s $200,000 research is for modifying a industrial Earth imaging spacecraft to be used at Mars, and Cannito mentioned that might be based mostly on the Proba spacecraft developed in Europe, and never SabreSat or Phantom.
Redwire reported revenues within the first quarter of 2024 of $87.8 million, a 52% enhance over the identical quarter of 2023. The corporate had adjusted earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $4.3 million, the identical as the primary quarter of final 12 months.
Cannito famous on the decision that the corporate now has 5 consecutive quarters of constructive adjusted EBITDA together with income progress, and back-to-back quarters of constructive money from operations. Whereas the corporate reported a internet loss on the quarter of $8.1 million, Jonathan Baliff, Redwire’s chief monetary officer, mentioned the general outcomes confirmed “continued constructive momentum” for the corporate because it strikes in direction of profitability.
