Part I: What Does Redwire Do?
As Chairman and CEO of Redwire, I regularly meet with investors, customers and the global space community who ask, “What does Redwire do?” Since we were formed through a series of nine strategic acquisitions over the last two years, I’m not surprised by this question. Our fantastic products and services are playing a major role in so many important missions across our diverse customer set, so it can be difficult to discern what our unifying focus is across the portfolio.
Of course, I always start with our mission statement: “Accelerating humanity’s expansion into space by delivering reliable, economical and sustainable infrastructure for future generations.”
This is an empowering mission that will be our “North Star” for decades to come regardless of industry trends. But how does this translate into a differentiated market position that will drive our future growth?
Redwire Space has three primary areas of focus that drive our portfolio:
- Enabling space mission providers, such as government agencies and large prime contractors, with a broad portfolio of systems, subsystems and components.
- Providing the infrastructure and technology needed for people to permanently live and work in space.
- Assisting international spacefaring allies in the development of organic space capabilities.
What does Redwire do?
Key Mission Enabler
Simply put, Redwire is a global leader in space infrastructure—we provide the foundational building blocks that are enabling the most complex space missions. Sometimes we refer to these building blocks as “picks and shovels” to evoke an image of the critical suppliers that provided the necessary tools for the gold rush in early American history.
We can also compare our mission to the development of terrestrial infrastructure. Terrestrial infrastructure is a driving force of the global economy which relies on a vast network of roads and bridges, freight rail and ports as well as electrical grids and internet services to power the engine of modern existence. Similarly, space infrastructure is equally critical to our terrestrial economy in areas such as telecommunications, navigation and timing, climate monitoring, weather forecasting, Earth observation, national security and even planetary defense! Redwire doesn’t offer full mission solutions for all these areas, but our customers do. Analogous to companies like General Electric, Honeywell and other key suppliers that led the development of terrestrial infrastructure like the electric grid, railroads and communications during the 20th century, Redwire is engaged in the new expansion of space-based infrastructure for the 21st century.
Redwire is a critical supplier of products and services for our customers’ most important and complex missions, such as our antenna solutions for the Space Development Agency, sun sensors for the GPS constellation and, of course, our Roll–Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) that powered NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission and currently power the International Space Station (ISS), to name just a few. Perhaps another analogy may be the computer chip manufacturer Intel®. They did not manufacture the computers that drove the information age, but they provided foundational components that made it possible. Hence the famous tagline, Intel Inside®. Our equivalent would be to say “Redwire Onboard”!
In national security, our clients such as the United States Department of Defense seek a company with greater agility that has the classified infrastructure to work on sensitive programs. In Redwire, the U.S. Department of Defense has found a partner that can deliver commercial-off-the-shelf capabilities that are multi-use across civil and commercial customers to drive down cost. Since Redwire is a U.S.-based manufacturing partner with the ability to deliver on classified programs, we are critical to U.S. supply chain security.
From power to payloads and structures to software, our innovative solutions, subsystems and components are the “fundamental building blocks” that make possible some of the most impactful space missions and operations of today and the future.
People Living and Working in Space
At Redwire, we recognize that space is fundamental to the future of humanity as we explore our place in the universe. As a part of that, we believe the future of humanity includes people living and working in space for both scientific and commercial benefits. For decades, we have played a critical role in historic space exploration missions, such as NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover. More recently, we served our partner Lockheed Martin and our customer NASA by providing the “Eyes of Orion” for NASA’s groundbreaking Artemis I mission. All those wonderful images from Artemis I were captured by Redwire cameras!
We are also a market leader in microgravity research and development on the ISS, with over 20 payloads developed and deployed. Our advanced payloads for microgravity research and development will drive a future robust commercial economy in space as commercial space stations become a reality. This is a generational opportunity. According to CNBC, the ISS cost more than $150 billion to develop and build, and NASA has laid out a plan to decommission and deorbit the station by 2031. That means commercial space station development to replace the ISS must occur over the next eight years. Redwire ROSA power solutions, berthing and docking mechanisms, robotics and other key technologies will be major subsystems for this opportunity. These commercial space stations will need advanced in-space manufacturing and biotech facilities to generate new materials and breakthrough medical treatments manufactured in microgravity, all of which present significant opportunities. The potential impact is tremendous!
Beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO), as part of the Artemis program, the U.S. and its allies will establish a permanent presence in cislunar orbit and on the lunar surface. Redwire is already participating in programs like the NASA-led lunar Gateway, providing the solar arrays for the Power and Propulsion Element and an International Berthing and Docking Mechanism. There are emerging opportunities for cislunar space and lunar surface infrastructure that will also require solar sails, large deployable structures, in-situ resource development and robotics, which present opportunities for Redwire as it has product offerings to service needs in each of these categories.
Our deep experience and broad portfolio of patented space technologies with real flight heritage ensure we will play a role in commercial space stations and the new lunar ecosystem as we realize a future of people living and working in space. We are even working on designing a next generation space toilet!
Increasing International Space Capabilities.
A renewed fascination with space is a worldwide phenomenon. Demand is not only rapidly accelerating here in the U.S., it’s a global trend. With the acquisition of Belgium-based QinetiQ Space NV, Redwire is expanding its footprint in Europe. Rebranded as Redwire Space NV, this new addition has a deep portfolio of highly synergistic and complementary core space infrastructure offerings that significantly enhance our access to addressable markets in Europe and the rest of the world. Redwire Space, NV joins the team at our existing office in Luxembourg to form Redwire Europe, a powerful international presence for Redwire. The acquisition of Space NV comes as space budgets in Europe increase, with the European Space Agency receiving a 17% increase in budget as compared to 2019.
Across the globe, many nations see space as a unique opportunity to build national prestige and expand their economies. In addition to the U.S. and Europe, countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Poland, India, Japan and many others are making notable investments in space technology, thereby expanding the global space economy and significantly increasing the Total Addressable Market for Redwire’s capabilities now that we have an international presence. To develop their programs, these countries require an agile and innovative partner with decades of experience developing scientific and commercial payloads for the ISS and beyond. They need a company that is eager to not only develop their space programs but also partner with local start-ups and universities to develop the international space community.
With many of the advanced payloads Redwire has developed for the ISS, we have partnered with a variety of diverse organizations such as universities and non-traditional commercial partners to develop unique space capabilities. These organizations leverage Redwire’s experience and intellectual property in the form of flexible research equipment to design their own experiments. Similarly, Redwire is working with emerging spacefaring nations to explore opportunities to leverage Redwire’s deep experience and broad portfolio of technologies to develop their space programs with their own universities and commercial companies. This is a significant global growth opportunity.
Foundational to the Future of Space
As you can see, Redwire is foundational to the future of space. As a key mission enabler, we are helping our customers by providing the critical building blocks they need to achieve their space aspirations. With decades of experience from our legacy organizations and a broad portfolio of proven space technologies, Redwire is well positioned to take a leading role in the future of space, from LEO, geosynchronous orbit, cislunar orbit and beyond. Redwire has the history, heritage, expertise, experience and international platform to accelerate humanity’s expansion into space for generations to come.
