Terran Orbital facility in Irvine, California. Photo: Terran Orbital

Lockheed Martin awarded Terran Orbital another subcontract for its work for the Space Development Agency (SDA). Lockheed Martin awarded Terran Orbital a subcontract to produce 18 satellite buses for its Tranche 2 (T2) Tracking Layer contract, the company announced on May 13 ahead of its first quarter results.  

Terran Orbital previously built 10 buses for Lockheed Martin for the Tranche 0 Transport Layer, and is currently building 42 satellites for Lockheed’s work on the Tranche 1 Transport Layer. 

This comes after Lockheed Martin placed and then withdrew a bid to acquire Terran Orbital over the last few months. 

Terran Orbital reported its first quarter financials on May 14, confirming that it is still undergoing a strategic review. CEO Marc Bell told investors on a Tuesday call that the review allows the company to consider “all options.” 

“We value Lockheed Martin as a customer, investor, and strategic partner,” Bell said. “I look forward to continuing our collaboration under a strategic cooperation agreement, which runs through 2035. I believe this continuing partnership was reinforced by this week’s Tranche Two Tracking award, which shows that we are still working together on programs across the board.” ​​

Terran Orbital reported $27.2 million in revenue in Q1, down 3% compared to the same period last year. The company said the dip was due to adjustments on a single program due to challenges with a subcontractor. Bell told investors that Terran Orbital replaced a propulsion subcontractor to protect a program’s schedule. 

He emphasized that while revenue was down in the quarter, Terran Orbital is executing on $400 million of signed backlog which will be realized as revenue over the course of the next 18 to 24 months, most of which is from Lockheed Martin.

“We realize it looks like revenues were down this quarter, but we have over just under 50 space vehicles that will be delivered in 2024 alone,” Bell said. 

Net loss was $53.2 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to a net loss of $54.4 million for the same period in the prior year. 

At the end of the quarter, Terran Orbital had $43.7 million of cash on hand. 

Terran Orbital is pulling back on updates on the Rivada constellation, which is a 300-satellite, $2.4 billion deal on paper. Rivada was delayed on payments in 2023 and those delays impacted Terran Orbital’s guidance last year. Bell directed further questions on the contract to Rivada, at Rivada’s request. 

“We continue to execute on the program, although it was a modest contributor to our first quarter revenue,” he said. “We have agreed in principle on a payment schedule that we believe will keep the program on track and make their launch timetable.”