North East electronics firm lands massive contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX worth £47.3m
An electronics manufacturer which boasts a head office in Durham has secured its largest single order to date of £47.3m ($62.5m) from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
AIM-listed Filtronic will provide its proprietary gallium nitride E-band product, with the first units set to ship in the financial year 2027, with the move expected to deliver material revenues in the financial years 2027 and 2028.
Chief executive Nat Edington called the contract ‘landmark’, saying: “[It] not only sets a new commercial record for Filtronic, but also reflects the success of our partnership with world-leading satellite company SpaceX.
"GaN represents a transformative opportunity for the ground segment of LEO communications, and this contract is further testament to the world-class engineering talent of both teams working together."
Due to the significant order, the warrants relating to the original Strategic Partnership agreement for next technologies have been extended to include E Band GaN alongside other bands in development. The contract is the first GaN product from Filtronic's product lines, delivering more than double the output power of the existing gallium arsenide product line.
Mike Nicholls, VP engineering Starlink, said: "Filtronic is a valuable partner to SpaceX, and has been an important contributor to the rollout and success of the Starlink constellation. This next generation technology will provide further benefits to our system and our customers' experience, and we're excited to enter this next phase with Filtronic."
Filtronic has its head office in Sedgefield in Durham with bases in Leeds, Manchester, and Cambridge.