On November 5, Redwire Corporation announced that it has been awarded a $20 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to complete additional testing and experimentation on a scaled version of Redwire’s SabreSat spacecraft for a precursor flight test in very low-Earth orbit (VLEO), as part of the DARPA Otter program.
The separate award adds a second VLEO flight mission to Redwire’s work on Otter and marks a major step toward sustained operations in VLEO — one of space’s most challenging and strategically important orbital regimes.
“This flight test allows us to gather data that cannot be fully recreated on the ground, learn faster, and reduce risk for the full Otter mission. Redwire is not simply building one spacecraft. We are creating the platforms, models, and digital infrastructure needed to make VLEO operational at scale,” said Spence Wise, Redwire senior vice president of missions and platforms. “Redwire’s continued work on the Otter program enables us to mature propulsion and spacecraft systems that can operate in VLEO. These innovations are building a new class of maneuverable, energy‑efficient spacecraft capable of supporting persistent operations in critical orbital regimes, ultimately equipping national security space missions with distinctive operational advantages, from rapid orbital agility to enhanced tactical responsiveness.”
Redwire has built a differentiated, end-to-end VLEO capability spanning spacecraft platforms, environmental modeling, digital engineering and mission integration. Redwire is one of the only providers developing both ultra-low-altitude, air-breathing, and non-air-breathing VLEO platforms designed for proliferated constellations, supported by a validated, multi-physics, multi-mission digital ecosystem built specifically for VLEO.
The Otter Flight Test award builds on Redwire’s $44 million Phase 2 Otter contract announced in November 2025 to complete manufacturing and deliver the full-scale spacecraft to launch. Together, the two announced awards total $64 million and establish a phased flight approach to advance air-breathing technology toward operational use. As prime mission integrator for Otter, Redwire is responsible for developing and integrating the spacecraft using Redwire’s U.S.-built SabreSat Orbital Drone platform.
Source: Redwire Corporation
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