Redwire Awarded $20M DARPA Contract To Complete Additional Testing And Experimentation On Scaled Version Of Its SabreSat Spacecraft For A Precursor Flight Test
Benzinga Newsdesk 1 day ago
ContractsNews
Contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to complete additional testing and experimentation on a scaled version of Redwire’s SabreSat spacecraft for a precursor flight test in very low-Earth
Contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to complete additional testing and experimentation on a scaled version of Redwire’s SabreSat spacecraft for a precursor flight test in very low-Earth orbit (VLEO), as part of the DARPA Otter program.
The separate award adds a second VLEO flight mission to Redwire’s work on Otter and marks a major step toward sustained operations in VLEO -- one of space’s most challenging and strategically important orbital regimes.
Redwire has built a differentiated, end-to-end VLEO capability spanning spacecraft platforms, environmental modeling, digital engineering and mission integration. Redwire is one of the only providers developing both ultra-low-altitude, air-breathing, and non-air-breathing VLEO platforms designed for proliferated constellations, supported by a validated, multi-physics, multi-mission digital ecosystem built specifically for VLEO.
The Otter Flight Test award builds on Redwire’s $44 million Phase 2 Otter contract announced in November 2025 to complete manufacturing and deliver the full-scale spacecraft to launch. Together, the two announced awards total $64 million and establish a phased flight approach to advance air-breathing technology toward operational use. As prime mission integrator for Otter, Redwire is responsible for developing and integrating the spacecraft using Redwire’s U.S.-built SabreSat Orbital Drone platform.
In addition to Otter, Redwire’s VLEO portfolio includes its role as prime contractor for the European Space Agency’s Skimsat mission, which leverages the company’s European-built Phantom spacecraft, as well as digital engineering work for DeepSat’s planned VLEO constellation. Together, these programs reinforce Redwire’s position at the forefront of developing both the spacecraft and digital foundation required to unlock VLEO for national security, intelligence, communications, and Earth observation missions.