U.S. Space Force Taps Space Micro to Build GEO Lasercom Terminals

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Apr 04, 2022, 09:12 ET

New Award Expands Upon Initial Contract from U.S. Air Force

SAN DIEGO, Calif. , April 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Space Micro Inc., powered by Voyager Space, and a provider of digital, electro-optic and communications systems for satellites, deep space exploration and other space equipment, today announced an award from the U.S. Space Force, Space Systems Command for a contract to build a GEO-capable µLCT™ secure laser communications terminal. Under the contract, Space Micro plans to deliver a flight model to Space Force in early 2024.

This new award builds on an initial development contract the U.S. Air Force issued to Space Micro in 2019. This initial contract and subsequent modifications provided funding for Space Micro to update the current µLCT design specifically for this mission and to provide communications interoperability to existing systems. Space Micro delivered an engineering model to Space Force in late 2021.The µLCT Space Micro will deliver to Space Force under this contract will be a 10 cm system capable of providing full duplex GEO to GEO crosslinks at 40,000 km.

"We are happy to be able to provide Space Force high-precision laser communications terminals tailored for GEO missions, fully developed here in the United States" said David Czajkowski, CEO of Space Micro.

Space Micro offers a range of µLCT solutions for civil, commercial and defense applications. The µLCT can be used as an OISL (Optical Inter-Satellite Link), a spacecraft to ground link, or a spacecraft to UAV link.

"Space Micro continues to model what successful private and public partnerships can look like, and how impactful they can be not only for our own capabilities, but the broader industry as a whole" said Matthew Kuta, President and COO, Voyager. "We're so proud to see the team's hard work continue to be recognized."

Today's news comes on the heels of an exciting 2021 for Space Micro, as the company recently announced an award from the Space Development Agency for a 24-month development contract for advanced one-to-many optical communications using Managed Optical Communication Array (MOCA) technology to support Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations. Space Micro was also selected by AFWERX, a U.S. Air Force Organization that works with commercial tech firms, to develop an air-to-space laser communications pod that could be deployed on military aircraft or unmanned drones to provide in-flight connectivity.

Captain Charles "Aaron" Bolen, USSF PM, said, "We look forward to this development effort and its potential to increase lasercom capability for future USSF space systems."

About Space Micro Inc.
Space Micro Inc., powered by Voyager Space and based in San Diego, CA, is an engineering-driven supplier of affordable, high-performance, radiation-hardened communications, electro-optics, and digital systems for use in commercial, civil, and military space applications around the world. Space Micro solutions include Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) transmitters, mission data transmitters, space cameras, star trackers, image processors, Command & Data Handling (C&DH) systems and laser communications systems.

For more information, visit http://www.spacemicro.com or contact Michael Dowd, Vice President of Business Development at (858) 332-0700, extension 122.

About Voyager Space
Voyager Space is a space technology company dedicated to building a better future for humanity in space and on Earth and accelerating the development of a sustainable space economy. With nearly 20 years of spaceflight heritage and over 1500 successful missions as of March 2022, Voyager delivers space station infrastructure and services and technology solutions to commercial customers, civil and national security government agencies, academic and research institutions, and more.

For more information, please visit www.voyagerspace.com

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This press release contains "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including those with respect to Voyager Space, Inc.'s (the "Company's") mission statement and growth strategy, are "forward-looking statements." Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Readers should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve these known and unknown uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

SOURCE Voyager Space