Rivada Space Networks issued a press release to coincide with Euroconsult’s Paris Space Business Week which said that it is “partnering” with Peraton, “a next-generation national security company and transformative enterprise IT provider” who will now work with Rivada once its planned 300 satellite constellation is in place.

However, there was no news on whether Rivada has its $2.4 billion (€2.1bn) funding to build the fleet of satellites in place.

Indeed, aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, which is in the process of acquiring Terran Orbital which has the satellite manufacture contract with Rivada, was almost at the point of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of reported delays by Rivada in funding the Terran Orbital stage payments.

Rivada is under a very tight timetable, imposed by the ITU, and has to launch 300 satellites by mid-2026. Terran has already said it is cutting its workforce because payments from Rivada have not been at the expected level. For example, Terran has yet to finalise the important Critical Design Review of the Rivada craft.

Worse, perhaps, is that Lockheed Martin has made no secret that it is very sceptical that Rivada will come up with the cash.

Rivada’s CEO Declan Ganley, in a reported interview at the Paris event stated he was confident that Rivada’s constellation would be built by Terran/Lockheed, and that the contract would be fulfilled on time. Ganley described Lockheed Martin’s acquisition of Terran as a confidence builder for his project, and that the ITU deadline would be met.

But Ganley repeatedly declined to specify on the sources for funding or when or how the funding demands would be met, other than that a Middle East sovereign wealth fund remained on board for the project.

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Categories: Blogs, Business, Funding, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: funding, Lockheed Martin, rivada, terran