ALL.SPACE, a satellite communications company with a U.S. technical and manufacturing hub in the Shoals, has received a federal agreement aimed at accelerating production within the nation’s space and defense supply chain.
The Department of War Innovation Unit awarded the company an Other Transaction agreement under the Adaptive Space Manufacturing and Integration at Scale project, known as 10ⁿ, ALL.SPACE announced Monday.
The project is designed to address production limits and supply-chain bottlenecks as expanding satellite constellations increase demand for space-related equipment. The industry has traditionally relied on relatively small production runs, customized components and lengthy testing and qualification schedules.
Under the agreement, ALL.SPACE will use its Hydra satellite communications terminals to demonstrate how equipment can be manufactured, integrated, tested and qualified more quickly and in greater quantities.
The broader 10ⁿ initiative seeks to demonstrate production capacity reaching hundreds of units per month and thousands annually. Those figures are overall program goals, not a specific production order placed with ALL.SPACE.
Hydra is a software-defined communications system designed to connect simultaneously with multiple satellite networks operating in low, medium, geostationary and highly elliptical orbits. The company says the technology can help military and government users maintain communications when individual networks are unavailable, disrupted or jammed.
“This award reflects a fundamental shift in how defense capabilities are being fielded,” ALL.SPACE Chief Operating Officer Rod McCurdy said. “Programs like 10ⁿ recognize that commercially developed technologies can address readiness and deployment challenges faster than traditional approaches.”
McCurdy said the agreement will allow ALL.SPACE to demonstrate how its multi-network communications equipment can be delivered at the speed and scale required by emerging defense and space systems.
Other Transaction agreements are flexible federal contracting instruments commonly used to develop and test prototypes. They allow the government to work with commercial technology companies outside some conventional procurement procedures and can lead to follow-on production agreements if a prototype is successful.
ALL.SPACE selected the Florence-Muscle Shoals area earlier this year for its U.S. technical and manufacturing hub after relocating its corporate domicile from the United Kingdom to the United States. The operation is intended to support manufacturing, technology development and customer services while placing the company closer to its primary U.S. defense customers and suppliers.
In July, York Space Systems completed its acquisition of ALL.SPACE for approximately $300 million. ALL.SPACE now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of York.
The company did not disclose the agreement’s value or duration, the number of terminals involved, how much work will be performed in Muscle Shoals or whether the award will create additional Alabama jobs.
