LeoStella and Hera Systems on Monday said they have formed a strategic alliance to manufacture small satellites and highlighted that they submitted a joint bid on the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) program for low-Earth orbit data and communications satellites.
For the T2TL effort, if successful, the companies will collaborate on the manufacture of Hera Systems’ Leoness Smart Bus spacecraft platform, which is space-proven. The companies said the partnership leverages LeoStella’s “highly efficient manufacturing capabilities.”
LeoStella has also built and delivered 20 satellites.
SDA in June sought proposals for 100 Alpha satellites for the T2TL program. Last week, SDA awarded separate contracts to Lockheed Martin
[LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] to build 36 Beta satellites each for T2TL.
The strategic alliance between LeoStella, based near Seattle, and Hera Systems, based in California, is expected to be a long-term commitment that will result in faster deliveries of satellites for commercial and government customers.
“By strategically using our collective resources and expertise, we are tackling the challenges of the space industry head-on,” Dr. Roger Roberts, president and CEO of Hera Systems, said in a statement. “This collaboration allows us to jointly mitigate capacity and supply chain risks that other manufacturers face independently. It enables us to pursue more ambitious projects and meet the associated customer schedule and cost challenges while facilitating measured growth and long-term success for both companies.”
LeoStella and Hera Systems told Defense Daily that the partnership will allow them to rapidly scale to meet production needs and delivery and budget targets, mitigating risks related to industry challenges in production capacity, supply chain delivery and workforce shortfalls. This will be accomplished “by enhancing their supply chain access through separate resources and utilizing both organizations’ production capacity and staff. The additional resources allow them to increase the reliability of production and delivery schedules and provide competitive pricing for multi-satellite constellations,” they said in an email response to questions.