Thanks for sharing the article Gandalf. It made for good reading. One question though. Do we know if any FTC power amps are being installed in satellites? The trading update from June 20th states that they are deployed in the starlink ground stations. |
Smashing article, many thanks GandalfShareStack.
The numbers are potentially very exciting with circa 6k sats already up and rising to circa 42k. Not only that, the article states that the sats have a useful life of about 5 years before being replaced.
Wow
Cheers! |
hxxps://www.telecomtv.com/content/access-evolution/leo-satellite-boom-fuels-filtronic-s-growth-51164 |
tp6.
Many thanks for that. Most instructive. |
Excellent to see some intelligent posts on here. well done guys |
This article on the Filtronic website ie incredibly interesting.
Cheers |
tp6,
Thanks for that.
As a matter of interest, why do you reckon the bigger money is at the ground station end?
I would have thought it might be at the satellite end, since the sensitivity must be very high and the power usage very low...but I'm no expert. |
Thanks tp6 |
If it's similar to other satellite setups, the ground station is not limited by electrical supply, whereas the satellite is. So you compensate for this by having a higher rf transmitter power at the ground station end, Squeezing high rf power at very high giga hertz frequencies is difficult and highly specialised. The filtronic product is very clever, it needs alot of production capability, aka big entry barriers for any competitor.My semi educated guess is the bigger money is at the ground station end..Alot of airlines currently use inmarsat for wifi backhaul, the connections are not the best and the bulky dome on the fuselage incurs circa 1% fuel penalty. Starlink is a massive improvement, on hardware and system performance this is just one user case. |
“how many amplifier modules there are per satellite?”
Cannot answer that but I understand there will be many more satellites than ground stations!!
Onwards & upwards!! |
Good article - thanks for sharing.
Wonder how many amplifier modules there are per satellite? |
 Filtronic lifts off with deal to supply Elon Musk’s satellites
County Durham-based technology business is ‘the only company in the world’ that can make the antenna amplifiers required by the SpaceX mogul’s Starlink network
A factory in northern England is the only place in the world that Elon Musk can find an amplifier needed for his Starlink satellites — and he now is paying millions for another batch.
The technology mogul’s ambition to fill the skies with more than 42,000 Starlink internet satellites, an increase from just over 6,200 at the moment, has proved lucrative for Filtronic.
The company, which makes parts at its headquarters in Sedgefield, Co Durham, and has offices in Leeds and Manchester, has confirmed a £6.4 million order with the American space technology player, a wholly owned subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX aerospace group.
Filtronic now expects to beat market expectations for its 2025 financial year thanks to the deal and Cavendish, its house broker, lifted a forecast for next year’s pre-tax profit by 20 per cent, from £6.4 million to £7.7 million. The company’s year-end net cash forecast has risen from £6.6 million to £8 million.
Edward Stacey, director of research at Cavendish, said that Filtronic was the only company in the world that could solve the problem of making more powerful amplifiers for antennas without signal distortion. It also makes antennas for mobile phone masks, the military and American police and fire services.
“This deal has given us a 10 per cent revenue upgrade and the shares are up almost fivefold from last year,” Stacey said. “Low-Earth-orbit satellites came from almost nothing to represent half of the company’s revenue.
“SpaceX could not find anyone else to make this crucial part, even among all the big satellite makers in the United States. It also wants a new generation antenna that is even more powerful, so Filtronic is working on that, which will continue to enhance growth.”
Musk, 53, who also owns Tesla, the carmaker, and X, the social media platform, launched SpaceX in 2002 with ambitions to provide internet access to even the most remote global regions. The company is now valued at $210 billion and has about three million customers in 99 countries.
After an initial $9 million order in July, Filtronic won the follow-on production order for power amplifier modules to develop the Starlink satellite network as part of a partnership announced in April. SpaceX now holds warrants for more than 10.9 million Filtronic shares, or 5 per cent of the stock capital. SpaceX’s order for e-band solid-state power amplifiers will be fulfilled in 2025.
Filtronic’s expansion into the low-Earth-orbit satellite communications market began with its first significant order in January 2023.
This time last year shares in Filtronic were changing hands for 17p. They closed last night at 79½p, up 3½p, or 4.6 per cent. |
Good article in The Times this morning suggesting..."County Durham-based technology business is 'the only company in the world' that can make the antenna amplifiers required by the SpaceX mogul's Starlink network.". Seems it is only a matter 'when' and not 'if' they get the payload contract. |
Struggling to finish above 80p, seems a bit of resistance... |
This has now five bagged from the time the company did their presentations and met with Mello investors at the London Mello in Chiswick last November. Hopefully they will present again at the 10th Anniversary event in Derby on the 19th and 20th November this year. |
https://www.satcom.digital/news/filtronic-secures-further-order-strengthening-strategic-partnership-with-spacex-for-starlink |
....Consequently, we now expect to trade ahead of current market expectation for FY2025. |
Filtronic has had its ups and downs -
I remember looking @ this company many years ago with a fund manager -
Loved the products and clearly it has had the tenacity to survive and now prospering - |
I know what your all thinking, why did i not buy more... |
The last sentence is very good news! |
good contract - |
Filtronic plc (AIM: FTC), the designer and manufacturer of products for the aerospace, defence, space and telecoms infrastructure markets, is pleased to announce the receipt of a further follow-on production order from our partner SpaceX.
The order is irrevocable, valued at $8.4m (£6.4m), and represents a continuation of demand for the E-band solid state power amplifier ("SSPA") modules to support the ongoing deployment of SpaceX's Starlink constellation which provides high-speed, low-latency internet to users all around the world. It is anticipated the order will be fulfilled in calendar year 2025. Consequently, we now expect to trade ahead of current market expectation for FY2025. |
Https://www.linkedin.com/posts/filtronic_power-up-the-rise-of-gan-as-an-alternative-activity-7234502334783930368-S_Da? |
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