Filtronic wins $4.25m satellite communications contract

(Sharecast News) - Aerospace, defence and space products manufacturer Filtronic announced a significant contract win with a top-tier global provider in the realm of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications equipment on Thursday. The AIM-traded firm said the contract, valued at $4.25m (£3.4m), pertained to the provision of Filtronic's Cerus32 solid-state power amplifier (SSPA) module, complemented by a tailor-made control board.

It said the SSPA modules were set to be integrated into selected ground stations, marking the second phase of the client's earth station antenna rollout.

The primary goal would be to achieve complete E-band connectivity with the recently introduced E-band enabled LEO satellites.

That, the board said, would mark a pioneering move, as it would be the inaugural instance of high bandwidth E-band frequencies being used on such a broad scale in a global LEO commercial space venture.

"Having successfully delivered phase one of their E-band earth station antenna installation earlier this year, we are delighted to continue our collaboration with one of the leading global providers of LEO space solutions in the second phase of their E-band deployment programme," said chief executive officer Richard Gibbs.

"We are also pleased that the customer has selected the Cerus32 module from our technology roadmap for this next phase of their roll-out.

"The Cerus32 product provides higher performance, in a smaller and scalable form factor, and the option to further enhance output powers as next-generation compound semiconductor technology becomes available later this year."

At 1316 BST, shares in Filtronic were up 4.06% at 16.65p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.