Satellite maker Terran Orbital has widened its real estate footprint in Orange County because of a $100 million injection from Lockheed Martin.
The Florida-based manufacturer of communications and imaging satellites for the U.S. government once planned to boost operations in Florida, but added 148,000 square feet of commercial space in Irvine instead, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
The two aerospace firms entered into an agreement running through 2035 to allow Terran to pursue more opportunities with Lockheed.
Terran said it will use the funds to buy more satellite assembly plants, increase production, meet capital needs and expand its advanced manufacturing capability.
In February, Terran signed a 10-year lease for a 60,000-square-foot commercial facility in Irvine next to its plant at 15330 Barranca Parkway.
In September, the company acquired 88,900 square feet of office space at 400 Spectrum Center Drive in Irvine to support the design, engineering and development of its small satellites and make room for its growing workforce.
Terran operates another Irvine facility at 50 Technology Drive, along with locations in Santa Maria; Atlanta; Virginia, Melbourne, Florida; its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida; and Turin, Italy. The company employs 450 workers worldwide.
Lockheed’s $100 million investment comes on top of $60 million it invested in Terran over the past five years.
Lockheed now owns 35 percent of Terran, which is supplying 42 satellites to Lockheed for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer of networking satellites. That supports a $700 million prototype contract Lockheed secured last month to build them.
The Transport Layer is a network of “optically interconnected” satellites for a data-transport system. It supports the National Defense Space Architecture — an ecosystem of hundreds of communications satellites operating in low-Earth orbit.
“Think of it as the Internet of space,” said Marc Bell,Terran’s chairman and CEO.
Founded in 2013, Terran went public not long after Russia launched its unprovoked war against Ukraine. Terran’s SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) IPO, like many space stocks, has been hit hard by the shifting risk environment in the aerospace market.
Terran reported a net loss of $103.6 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with a net loss of $86.3 million for the same period last year.
— Dana Bartholomew
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