General Dynamics has received a seven-year satellite contract

General Dynamics Corporation (GD), the aerospace, marine, and military equipment manufacturing company, has received a defense contract to support an important satellite network. Moreover, the contract has great potential to increase the final value. This became the basis of quotations. At the auction on May 26, GD shares were worth $226.51. The Space Development Agency (SDA) of the US Department of Defense signed a seven-year contract with General Dynamics worth $324.5 million.

As part of the agreement, GD will manage the ground systems and network operations of the new low-orbit constellation of SDA satellites. It will include more than a hundred satellites that will be interconnected by laser communication lines. Thus, the constellation will be protected from interference and detection by radio emission and, at the same time, will be able to provide high-speed data transmission. Initially, it is planned to deploy satellites in near-polar orbits, where strategic vehicles are usually placed, for example, reconnaissance satellites or components of a missile attack warning system.

The contract that General Dynamics received has extension options, and they will almost certainly be used due to the high technical complexity of the project. General Dynamics submitted a proposal to the competition jointly with Iridium Communications, since a large amount of work and the scale of tasks are expected. Thus, at least 14 ground-based communication stations are expected, while the main contractor will coordinate the launch of satellites and data traffic.

Launches will begin in two years, and in 2025, SDA plans to select two manufacturers of satellites for detecting missile launches. As a result, you should get a large network of satellites for various purposes, which will be managed by General Dynamics. So, the company will get into a market that looks good: low-orbit communications will become more popular over the next ten years.