EXCLUSIVE: Terran Orbital CEO On The Future Of The Space Economy And Emerging Satellite Use Cases

Zinger brief:

• Terran Orbital LLAP Chairman and CEO Marc Bell hosted a Town Hall for retail investors on the Public.com app following the small satellite manufacturers SPAC IPO
• Bell discussed innovations in small satellite technology, Terran Orbital’s 5-year vision, partnering with SpaceX, and more.

Terran Orbital ($LLAP), a manufacturer of small satellites primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry, went public via a SPAC IPO on March 28, 2022.

Following the company’s debut in the public markets, Terran Orbital’s Chairman and CEO, Marc Bell, answered questions from retail investors via Public.com. Here’s an exclusive recap of the Town Hall event for Benzinga readers.

How do you envision the future of the space industry?

Marc Bell: As satellites have become easier and less expensive to launch, and demand for space-based data continues to exponentially increase, our corner of the space market sits at a turning point, with analysts expecting that over 50,000 satellites will be launched over the next decade. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites will provide the backbone of the short- and medium-term space infrastructure for commercial and government users across the world.

What are some use-cases for small satellites within the space economy?

MB: The data provided by small satellites can be applied to a number of use cases – weather prediction, agriculture (like remote monitoring of crop’s health or droughts), monitoring air and shipping lanes, securing imagery of terrestrial events (like the explosion in the port of Beirut, troop buildup on Russian border), among a number of other use cases with commercial, civil, and government applications.

What is Terran Orbital’s 5-year vision now that you’ve become a publicly-traded company?

MB: We're thrilled to have gone public with our stock listed on NYSE under the symbol $LLAP (an abbreviation for the Star Trek salute, “Live Long and Prosper”). In the near term, our core objectives — which we believe will continue to elevate us and enable us to further define the small satellite industry — remain to execute on two previously announced projects: to build one of the world's largest, most advanced persistent earth observation constellations, and to build one of the world's largest vertically integrated satellite manufacturing facilities. We expect to leverage these pioneering projects to continue to deliver best-in-class satellite solutions to our military, commercial and civil customers.

What are some of the biggest challenges players in the space industry face, and how is Terran Orbital addressing these challenges?

MB: The space economy is really at an inflection point as demand for space-based data exponentially increases, and we're seeing an increased focus on national defense space capabilities. Our government partners have faced an ongoing challenge — they require data extremely quickly and at an extremely high resolution, and they need to be confident this information will be delivered reliably. Terran Orbital’s vertically integrated, end-to-end satellite solutions business delivers both the immediate data and the certainty of mission success — we have already built a strong manufacturing footprint and legacy of mission success, and we are planning to build one of the world's largest advanced earth observation constellation to provide that real-time, high-definition, tactically relevant data.

There is a lot of talk about too much “space junk.” Any viable solutions on the horizon?

MB: The space debris issue is an issue that has been known for years. We call it a latent issue – meaning that although it might not affect you currently, it is only going to get worse unless the entire community decides to take some action. We believe in self-regulation and self-preservation principles because we all understand the problem is just going to expand unless every member of the community works to solve it. Terran Orbital has been coordinating within the community and has even built satellites capable of detecting and tracking debris in orbit.

Would you be interested in partnering with SpaceX to further advance the technology that you are currently using?

MB: Terran Orbital has built strong partnerships with many of the private launch vehicle providers which also include private space travel companies. Terran Orbital is one of SpaceX's first Rideshare customers and is continuing to maintain a special relationship thanks to the complementarity and mutual respect between the two companies.

With Russian conflicts ongoing, will there be more collaboration among US-based aerospace and defense industry companies to achieve the common goal of space exploration?

MB: On the one hand, as we saw when NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei [recently] returned to Earth with two cosmonauts on a Russian Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, the USA and Russia continue to cooperate on space mission operations despite conflict on Earth. However, US-based aerospace and defense companies are among the most innovative in the industry, and public-private partnerships between US-based space companies and US government institutions have been increasing for several years now in an effort to both advance human space exploration and support our national defense space capabilities. Terran is proud to partner with US-based industry leaders as well as government institutions like NASA and the Space Development Agency to continue advancing the entire US space industry.

Public.com members can view the full Q&A in the app. Open To The Public Investing is a member of FINRA and SIPC. This content is not investment advice. Investing involves risk of loss.