£4.8m contract secured with satellite communications equipment provider

Filtronic, which designs and makes products for the aerospace, defence, telecoms infrastructure and space markets, has signed a contract with a global provider of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications equipment.

The deal, valued initially at $6m (£4.8m), with revenue expected to be recognised in calendar year 2024, is for the delivery of production volumes of the second generation of Filtronic’s Cerus32 solid state power amplifier (SSPA) module.

The SSPA modules will be installed in selected ground station locations as part of the customer’s earth station antenna deployment, which provides full E-band connectivity to the growing number of E-band enabled LEO satellites.

Working with the customer, Leeds-based Filtronic says it has been able to accelerate the Cerus technology roadmap from the initial Cerus16 units supplied in early 2023, to the current Cerus32 module which is optimised for power and ease of field deployment.

Richard Gibbs, Filtronic chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased to continue our partnership with the leading global provider of LEO satellites and are happy to supply production volumes of the Cerus32 SSPA module for deployment in its ground station antenna network.

“The customer has always valued the flexibility of the Cerus32 design, and with this new contract is keen to take advantage of the scalable form factor and the additional power our second-generation E-band product provides.”