A County Durham company has launched a major partnership with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
NETPark-based Filtronic design and makes products for the aerospace, defence, telecoms infrastructure and space markets and has signed a Strategic Partnership and commercial agreement with SpaceX, a market leader in the LEO (Low Earth Orbit) market.
The partnership includes the ongoing supply of Filtronic’s E-band Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA), alongside collaborative efforts in developing and delivering comparable products essential for SpaceX’s Starlink platform.
The agreement was signed with an initial order of £15.8m to supply modules scheduled for delivery next year, with further orders expected to continue thereafter to support the ongoing deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which provides high-speed internet to users all around the world.
As part of the partnership, SpaceX has committed to ongoing orders for the next five years to ensure Filtronic remains a key part of its supply chain.
Richard Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer, of Filtronic, said: “We are delighted to enter into this important Strategic Agreement with SpaceX, a market leader in LEO satellite constellations. This ongoing SpaceX partnership underlines our core value proposition of high-performance mmWave and operational excellence.
"It also provides Filtronic with the opportunity to scale manufacturing, build capability and execute our technology roadmap. The team at Filtronic are excited to develop our existing relationship with SpaceX and secure the ongoing supply of E-band SSPAs. We also look forward to collaborating with the SpaceX engineering team to develop new products for use in the Starlink system.”
Mike Nicolls, SpaceX’s Vice President of Starlink Engineering said: “Filtronic has been an outstanding supplier for Starlink. They have matched our rate ramp and increasing demand for high-quality parts.
"Their strong engineering teams have taken ownership of their production process to meet our needs, taking their designs from wafer to functional unit, and are delivering quality parts in E-band which will enable the Starlink network to continue to grow and connect millions of more people around the world with high-speed, low-latency broadband internet.”
After the announcement, Filtronic said its outlook for both FY2024 and FY2025 will exceed current market estimates.
A company statement said: "Filtronic closed several significant contracts with new customers in the first half of 2024, including important initial production orders in the fast-growing LEO space market.
"The company has been successful in executing these contracts over the last six months and as such FY2024 revenue will now be marginally ahead of expectations and EBITDA will be significantly ahead of expectations.
"These recent contract wins give us better visibility over the medium term due to the growing orderbook, increased confidence in the LEO space market and the ability of Filtronic to scale manufacturing in support of the LEO constellation and ground station deployment. As a result, we expect FY2025 to be significantly ahead of current market expectations for both revenue and EBITDA.
Richard Gibbs said: "the Filtronic team has always excelled in delivering world-class products to our core markets. The recent investments in our engineering and operations team have enhanced our ability to deliver innovative, cost-effective RF solutions to a demanding timescale, and this in turn has positioned us well with some of the largest space and aerospace customers in world. It is pleasing to see this effort being recognised in our financial results."
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