Redwire Joins Growing Orbital Data Center Race With Sophia Days After $980M Space Force Contract Selection

• Sophia will provide its technology for computing, solar power and cooling, while Redwire will bring expertise in spacecraft systems, power generation and infrastructure.
• The companies also plan to pursue potential commercial and U.S. government opportunities.
• Last week, the company was selected as one of 15 vendors for the U.S. Space Force's NITE-STAR IDIQ contract.

Redwire (RDW) was in the spotlight on Wednesday after the space infrastructure firm partnered with Sophia Space to push deeper into the emerging orbital data-center market, taking on much larger players like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

At the time of writing, RDW shares traded marginally in the green and were on track to record a second straight month of gains.

RDW, Sophie To Chase Government Contracts

Redwire and Sophia Space signed a memorandum of understanding to develop scalable computing infrastructure in orbit. Sophia will provide its technology for computing, solar power and cooling in orbit, while Redwire will bring its expertise in spacecraft systems, power generation and infrastructure.

The companies also plan to pursue potential commercial and U.S. government opportunities involving agencies including Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Space Development Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office.

Redwire Follows SpaceX, Blue Origin In Orbital Computing

The partnership comes as orbital computing attracts some of the biggest names in the space industry. SpaceX has reportedly sought regulatory approval for a constellation that could eventually include as many as one million satellites supporting orbital computing.

Musk has argued that space-based AI computing could become cost-effective within a few years, helped by abundant solar energy. He has also said that orbital data centers could ultimately scale far beyond what is possible on Earth.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is pursuing a similar strategy. Its Project Sunrise proposal is reportedly seeking permission for more than 50,000 satellites that would perform computing in orbit, partly to reduce the land, power and water constraints facing terrestrial data centers.

Redwire’s Backlog Grows

The Sophia partnership follows several recent wins for Redwire. Last week, the company was selected as one of 15 vendors for the U.S. Space Force's $980 million-plus NITE-STAR indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, although the contract is shared and does not represent guaranteed revenue.

Redwire was also selected in January for the Missile Defense Agency’s $151 billion SHIELD contract, which includes multiple companies and does not guarantee any revenue for Redwire.

The company ended the second quarter (Q2) with a record contracted backlog of $542.1 million.

Retail Stays Bullish On RDW

Retail sentiment surrounding RDW on Stocktwits remained ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours amid ‘high’ message volumes.

One user believes the stock can be a “long hold.”

RDW has gained nearly 19% so far this year, outperforming peers AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Virgin Galactic (SPCE) and Rocket Labs (RKLB).

Also read: Why Are Nasdaq Futures Rising Premarket? MU, TSLA, CAPR, VNDA, ASTS, HOOD, BA Stocks In Focus

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com