TAMPA, Fla. — Terran Orbital chair and CEO Marc Bell said it’s lowering 2023 revenue guidance following payment delays from Rivada Space, although the satellite maker’s largest customer still expects to pay $180 million later this 12 months under their $2.4 billion constellation contract.
In an Oct. 26 virtual town hall meeting with shareholders, Bell said Terran Orbital’s upcoming full-year revenue projection can be lower than an earlier $250 million forecast, but still represent a “material increase” over the $94 million made in 2022. Terran Orbital recorded about $60 million in revenue for the primary half of 2023.
The updated guidance will probably be published in the course of the Boca Raton, Florida-headquartered company’s third-quarter earnings update Nov. 14, and follows delays with other “key awards” that weren’t named.
Terran Orbital also supports Lockheed Martin, an investor within the publicly listed company, on programs for the Space Development Agency (SDA).
In line with Bell, Terran Orbital currently has greater than 120 satellites under construction or recently launched — not including the 300 satellites under contract for Rivada Space’s low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband network.
The corporate also announced three awards this week that Bell said are price greater than $160 million in total:
Nevertheless, the Rivada Space contract for 300 satellites to be delivered for SpaceX launches starting 2025 represents the majority of Terran Orbital’s backlog of future revenues.
The Rivada distraction
Privately held Rivada Space’s highly guarded plans to finance the 500-kilogram satellites have been a priority for Terran Orbital investors because the manufacturer’s shares significantly underperform on the Recent York Stock Exchange.
Questions across the Rivada Space contract have taken attention away from Terran Orbital’s other growth opportunities, Bell said during a town hall event the corporate launched to assist revive flagging shares now at risk of being kicked off the stock exchange.
While Rivada Space seeks to maintain a personal profile, he said the corporate has been transparent with Terran Orbital about their funding sources and standing of future financing from the outset.
“Their money to date has been affiliated with a big sovereign that has not yet publicly announced their support for the project,” Bell said.
Rivada Space, a German subsidiary of U.S.-based wireless technology firm Rivada Networks, has also sought support from the U.S. Ex-Im Bank to finance the constellation.
Bell said Rivada Space has paid Terran Orbital greater than $5 million to launch the constellation program and has paid all amounts attributable to date.
“Importantly, the contract and payments were structured, as they typically are, to make sure Terran Orbital is paid upfront of labor being performed,” he added.
While Terran Orbital has scaled ongoing efforts on the project to reflect the delayed payments, he said work might be ramped up quickly. Rivada Space also doesn’t expect any issues meeting its regulatory commitments, including deploying 288 of the satellites by mid-2026.
Chasing latest business
Bell told shareholders in the course of the town hall event that Terran Orbital is responding to criticism about its heavy reliance on Lockheed Martin and Rivada Space by increasing the scale of its business development and capture team to diversify its customer base.
He said the corporate is currently pursuing 80 opportunities, comprising greater than 2,800 satellite buses across roughly 40 different customers and collectively valued at greater than $2.7 billion.
Terran Orbital also stays on the right track to record positive EBITDA — Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization — next 12 months and currently has greater than $70 million of money available, in keeping with Bell.
The town hall follows an Oct. 11 letter from investors collectively holding 8.4% of Terran Orbital that called for leadership changes along with a strategic review to enhance market credibility.
Stratton Sclavos, a member of Terran Orbital’s board of independent directors who issued their very own letter per week later to underline continued support for Bell, appeared briefly in the course of the town hall event to reaffirm this stance.