Taren Orbital went public through a SPAC deal in early 2022 with a market valuation of $1.8 billion.

Two years later, the stock ticker LLP in a nod to Star Trek is down 90% hovering around a buck a share as

unprofitable companies especially SPACs have been hit hard amid high interest

rates and a market pivot. Taren Orbitals future may look different.

Lockheed Martin, which already owns a stake in the small satellite maker

and is a key customer, made public its intention

to buy the new space company in a deal worth nearly $600 million.

In response, Terenorbital quickly adopted a shareholder rights plan or

poison pill as it hopes to entertain other offers and build on a strategic process started months ago.

CEO and Chairman Mark Bell says Teren Orbital is the last independent manufacturer of

small-sats in the US that can do classified work and do so at lower price points.

Big primes have 100,000 employees.

We have 650 employees.

We're able to do massive throughput with very little people, a lot of robotics, and a lot of

high-tech ways of doing things. It's just a different way of doing business. So

these new space primes that are being built all across all across this country are going to dramatically change

how satellites get built today. While companies like Northrop Grumman are laying off

a thousand employees, people like us are continuing to hire and build.

Investors have shunned the stock in recent years, but customers have not.

Over the past week alone, the company has won multiple government contracts and had several satellites

launched orbit. On this episode, Bell discusses the future of Taren Orbital

as consolidation continues in a shifting satellite market. I'm Morgan Brennan and this is manifest space.

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