An artist's rendering of an air-breathing electric propulsion satellite as envisioned in the DARPA Otter program. DARPA image.
Redwire to buy small satellite manufacturer
Hera Technologies is active in a project run by Space Force to demonstrate on-orbit servicing.
Redwire Corp. has agreed to acquire a maker of small satellites for national security space missions as part of a push to further expand across that client set.
Hera Systems opened for business in 2013 and designs its spacecraft to incorporate cyber-secure communications, on-board computing power that can support mission- and payload-specific machine learning, and more resilient power systems.
Terms of the agreement announced Wednesday were not disclosed, but Redwire said that Hera posted $15 million in 2023 revenue. All parties involved expect the transaction to close in the third quarter of this year.
“Similar to our focus on VLEO (very low-earth orbit) platforms, we see increasing opportunities to unlock and deliver new solutions in MEO, GEO and other domains to support the warfighter and address critical needs in national security space," Redwire's chief executive Peter Cannito said in a release.
Hera was contracted in 2022 by Orion Space Solutions to develop three satellites for Tetra-5, a Space Force on-orbit servicing demonstration mission.
Redwire came together in 2020 via the combination of several other space infrastructure companies. Then ina 2021, Redwire became a publicly-traded company through its merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
Redwire has sought to increase its national security space business and announced in July that it secured a prime contract to develop and demonstrate a VLEO spacecraft for Otter, a Defense Advanced Research Projects agency program for accelerating new electronic propulsion technologies.
As a result of this acquisition, Redwire has adjusted its full-year 2024 revenue outlook from $300 million to $310 million.