Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE:LLAP) said it has received a further milestone payment and completed screening industrial partners for its $2.4 billion contract with Rivada Space Networks.
Shares of the company shot nearly 15% higher on Thursday, trading at US$1.88.
Through its subsidiary Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Terran Orbital will design, build and deploy 300 spacecraft for Rivada. The constellation will consist of 288 low-Earth orbit satellites and 12 'spare' satellites. The company will also develop portions of the ground segment.
The constellation's deployment will begin with a Terran Orbital-developed demonstrator mission in 2024. It will consist of four satellites, across two orbital planes, with regenerative payloads and laser communication terminals. The mission will verify gateway-less transmissions from one user to another, routed within a small network of four satellites in space. Terran Orbital's satellite operations control center will conduct mission operations for the on-orbit satellites.
"Working with Rivada has been a pleasure," said Terran Orbital co-founder, chairman, and CEO Marc Bell in a statement. "Terran Orbital looks forward to proceeding with the program as scheduled as we continue refining the Rivada spacecraft design."
Rivada Space Networks CEO Declan Ganley expressed delight in moving forward rapidly with Terran Orbital and the industrial partners. The additional 'Demonstrator Mission' in 2025 will ensure that customers can test the operational environment of their unique laser-connected data network ahead of the rollout of the main constellation.
"We are delighted to be moving ahead rapidly with Terran Orbital and our industrial partners to take our constellations from concept to reality," Ganley said. "The additional 'Demonstrator Mission' in 2025 will ensure that customers can test the operational environment of our unique laser-connected data network ahead of the rollout of the main constellation and provide RSN with an operational test bed for early ground segment automation to build up best practices for operating our larger fleet."
Terran Orbital Corporation provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers.
--Updates with share price--
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com