KTOS

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Awarded $25 Million U.S. Space Force Task Order for Strategic Satellite Communications Support

Kratos Defense secured a $25 million task order from the U.S. Space Force to enhance satellite communication systems.

Quiver AI Summary

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has been awarded a $25 million task order under the Command and Control System-Consolidated (CCS-C) Sustainment and Resiliency (C-SAR) contract with the U.S. Space Force. This contract will enhance ground system capabilities for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) system, which is critical for the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) mission. The task order involves establishing infrastructure for telemetry and tracking capabilities, linking ground system solutions, and developing a roadmap for ESS software implementation. The project will utilize Kratos' OpenSpace Platform to provide scalable and resilient ground services for military satellite communications. The contract runs from March 2025 to November 2027 and is part of a larger $579 million C-SAR indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract focused on supporting military satellite communications needs.

Potential Positives

  • Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has secured a significant task order worth $25 million to support crucial ground system capabilities for the U.S. Space Force's Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) program, enhancing its position in the defense sector.
  • The task order contributes to the development of the CCS-C infrastructure, which will bolster command and control capabilities for military satellite communications, underscoring Kratos' role in essential national security missions.
  • The successful execution of this contract may pave the way for future opportunities under the maximum $579 million C-SAR contract, providing potential for further revenue growth and operational expansion.

Potential Negatives

  • The task order is limited to a contract value of $25 million within a larger $579 million IDIQ contract, which could highlight dependency on government contracts and potential volatility in revenue if the build-out encounters issues.
  • The forward-looking statements caution against undue reliance, which may indicate financial risks and uncertainties that could affect investor confidence.
  • The company’s strategic approach of partnering with traditional integrators when investment risks are high could raise concerns about its operational independence and financial stability.

FAQ

What is the recent task order awarded to Kratos Defense?

Kratos Defense was awarded a task order under the CCS-C Sustainment and Resiliency contract with the US Space Force for ground system capabilities.

What is the value and duration of the contract with the U.S. Space Force?

The contract has a value of $25 million and a duration of 34 months, beginning March 14, 2025, and ending November 30, 2027.

What is the purpose of the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications system?

The ESS system will provide reliable satellite communications for the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications mission across various operational environments.

What technology will Kratos use to support CCS-C infrastructure changes?

Kratos will implement its OpenSpace Platform, featuring a modern, containerized architecture to support evolving mission needs.

What are the main focus areas of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions?

Kratos focuses on virtualized ground systems, unmanned aerial drone systems, propulsive technologies, and security solutions for defense and national security sectors.

Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.


$KTOS Insider Trading Activity

$KTOS insiders have traded $KTOS stock on the open market 50 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 2 have been purchases and 48 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $KTOS stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

  • STEVEN S. FENDLEY (President, US Division) has made 0 purchases and 8 sales selling 67,000 shares for an estimated $2,168,647.
  • PHILLIP D CARRAI (President, STC Division) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 47,500 shares for an estimated $1,372,130.
  • JONAH ADELMAN (President, ME Division) sold 40,000 shares for an estimated $1,350,340
  • DEANNA H LUND (EVP & CFO) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 36,567 shares for an estimated $1,142,242.
  • THOMAS E IV MILLS (President, C5ISR Division) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 28,939 shares for an estimated $830,087.
  • STACEY G ROCK (President, KTT Division) has made 0 purchases and 8 sales selling 24,000 shares for an estimated $757,107.
  • DAVID M CARTER (President, DRSS Division) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 24,000 shares for an estimated $747,246.
  • DE BURGREEN MARIA CERVANTES (VP & Corp. Controller) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 19,528 shares for an estimated $585,840.
  • ERIC M DEMARCO (President & CEO) has made 2 purchases buying 16,955 shares for an estimated $500,700 and 0 sales.
  • MARIE MENDOZA (SVP & General Counsel) has made 0 purchases and 4 sales selling 6,531 shares for an estimated $196,276.
  • BOBBI DOORENBOS sold 5,000 shares for an estimated $175,018
  • BRADLEY L BOYD sold 3,800 shares for an estimated $132,544

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$KTOS Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 222 institutional investors add shares of $KTOS stock to their portfolio, and 185 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

  • BLACKROCK, INC. added 11,605,372 shares (+88.3%) to their portfolio in Q1 2025, for an estimated $344,563,494
  • STATE STREET CORP added 3,998,398 shares (+68.7%) to their portfolio in Q1 2025, for an estimated $118,712,436
  • COOPER CREEK PARTNERS MANAGEMENT LLC removed 2,438,674 shares (-80.4%) from their portfolio in Q1 2025, for an estimated $72,404,231
  • UBS GROUP AG added 2,242,229 shares (+306.2%) to their portfolio in Q1 2025, for an estimated $66,571,779
  • ROVIDA ADVISORS INC. removed 1,773,655 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $46,789,018
  • VANGUARD GROUP INC added 1,728,179 shares (+11.7%) to their portfolio in Q1 2025, for an estimated $51,309,634
  • FIRST TRUST ADVISORS LP added 1,551,374 shares (+544.7%) to their portfolio in Q1 2025, for an estimated $46,060,294

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$KTOS Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $KTOS in the last several months. We have seen 2 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

  • JMP Securities issued a "Outperform" rating on 02/04/2025
  • RBC Capital issued a "Outperform" rating on 01/06/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $KTOS, check out Quiver Quantitative's $KTOS forecast page.

Full Release



SAN DIEGO, June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a technology company in defense, national security and global markets, announced today that it was awarded a task order under the Command and Control System-Consolidated (CCS-C) Sustainment and Resiliency (C-SAR) contract with the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) to support ground system capabilities for Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (SATCOM) (ESS). The ESS system will provide the survivable and endurable satellite communications capability for the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) mission in all operational environments.



First, the task order will begin to lay the CCS-C infrastructure groundwork to eventually support an out-of-band (OOB) ESS telemetry, tracking, and command capability as part of the larger SSC Military Communications & Positioning, Navigation and Timing Program Executive Office (PEO) mission. Second, it will create the necessary infrastructure to link the ground system solutions as required for operations. Third, through a pair of study efforts, it will facilitate the development of a road map for implementation of ESS Mission Unique Software and CCS-C micro-services implementation. Finally, the effort will facilitate a prototyping effort to allow CCS-C users to utilize new enterprise architecture.



The task order has a contract value of $25 million with a 34-month period of performance, beginning 14 March 2025 and concluding on 30 November 2027. This was accomplished under the C-SAR single-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded to Kratos on 15 November 2023. The C-SAR IDIQ contract has a maximum value of $579 million to cover task/delivery orders to support operations, sustainment, enhancements, and constellation capacity.



The C-SAR contract supports sustainment and operations of CCS-C which provides secure and integrated communications for Military SATCOM (MILSATCOM) requirements across Wideband and Strategic systems. CCS-C delivers OOB command and control (C2) for MILSATCOM systems currently including the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS), Milstar, Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS), and Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites. CCS-C may eventually play a pivotal role in OOB C2 for the ESS constellation.



According to Phil Carrai, President of Kratos’ Space, Training & Cybersecurity Division, “One of the primary CCS-C infrastructure changes associated with this task order is the implementation of Kratos’ OpenSpace Platform to support the specified needs of the program. OpenSpace employs a modern, containerized and orchestrated architecture enabling the Space Force to select only the OpenSpace capabilities needed as missions evolve, providing a pathway for enterprise ground services for MILSATCOM constellations to effectively scale for future space vehicles while improving availability and resiliency.”




About Kratos OpenSpace



Kratos’ OpenSpace family of solutions enables the digital transformation of satellite ground systems to become a more dynamic and powerful part of the space network. The family consists of three product lines: OpenSpace SpectralNet for converting satellite RF signals to be used in digital environments; OpenSpace quantum products, which are virtual versions of traditional hardware components; and the OpenSpace Platform, the first commercially available, fully orchestrated, software-defined ground system. These three OpenSpace lines enable satellite operators and other service providers to implement digital operations at their own pace and in ways that meet their unique mission goals. For more information about the OpenSpace family visit www.KratosDefense.com/OpenSpace.




About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions



Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology, products, system and software company addressing the defense, national security, and commercial markets. Kratos makes true internally funded research, development, capital and other investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that address our customers’ mission critical needs and requirements. At Kratos, affordability is a technology, and we seek to utilize proven, leading edge approaches and technology, not unproven bleeding edge approaches or technology, with Kratos’ approach designed to reduce cost, schedule and risk, enabling us to be first to market with cost effective solutions. We believe that Kratos is known as an innovative disruptive change agent in the industry, a company that is an expert in designing products and systems up front for successful rapid, large quantity, low cost future manufacturing which is a value add competitive differentiator for our large traditional prime system integrator partners and also to our government and commercial customers. Kratos intends to pursue program and contract opportunities as the prime or lead contractor when we believe that our probability of win (PWin) is high and any investment required by Kratos is within our capital resource comfort level. We intend to partner and team with a large, traditional system integrator when our assessment of PWin is greater or required investment is beyond Kratos’ comfort level. Kratos’ primary business areas include virtualized ground systems for satellites and space vehicles including software for command & control (C2) and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C), jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems, C5ISR and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality training systems for the warfighter. For more information, visit

www.KratosDefense.com

.




Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements



Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Kratos and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December 29, 2024, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Kratos.




Press Contact:



Claire Burghoff


claire.burghoff@kratosdefense.com





Investor Information:



877-934-4687


investor@kratosdefense.com






This article was originally published on Quiver News, read the full story.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Tags

More Related Articles

Info icon

This data feed is not available at this time.

Data is currently not available

Sign up for the TradeTalks newsletter to receive your weekly dose of trading news, trends and education. Delivered Wednesdays.