Roccor inks contract with Golden-based PlanetiQ

LONGMONT — Roccor LLC, a supplier of aerospace components, has secured a contract from fellow Colorado company PlanetiQ.

Longmont-based Roccor will provide multiple deployable solar arrays for Golden-based PlanetiQ, which is making shoebox-sized weather spacecraft that can conduct weather monitoring for weather forecasting.

Roccor CEO Chris Pearson said PlanetiQ’s work is notable because the spacecraft that used to be required for that kind of weather monitoring used to be the size of a small car and cost several million dollars. PlanetiQ has managed to shrink both the size and the cost, allowing for multiple devices to be launched for a global view of the weather.

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The spacecraft will use solar power for energy, which is where Roccor comes in. Roccor has developed solar arrays that fold up against the spacecraft and then can expand outward when it is launched.

“The crucial part we provide is not just the power but that our arrays are able to survive the rough ride,” Pearson told BizWest. “When they’re released, they unfold to give you the power you need.”

Pearson added that Roccor’s arrays are made from a high-strength composite technology and that the way the company has managed to fold up its arrays is one of the differentiators from other companies. Another differentiator is the speed with which Roccor is able to complete the order. While it can take some companies a year to 18 months, because of Roccor’s vertical integration Pearson said the company expects to have its arrays ready in six months.

This marks the second order for solar arrays Roccor has received in the last six months. In the third quarter of 2018 the company received an order from an unnamed U.S. government customer.

Roccor has had other major developments lately, namely the January announcement that Pearson would be CEO. Pearson, who joined the company in 2016 as vice president of space flight programs, succeeded co-founder Doug Campbell. Campbell took on the full-time CEO role of sister company Solid Power, based in Louisville, but remains active at Roccor as chairman of its board of directors.

Pearson said the PlanetiQ contract is what allows Roccor to grow.

“In 2016, we had 10 people. We’re at over 40 today with plans to hire another 10 people this year,” he said. “We’re growing like crazy, which shows how good the space economy is here in Colorado.”

In addition to arrays, he added that deployable antennas and thermal management for spacecraft are other significant products for Roccor.

“Those three things are driving business,” he said. “This is a good ecosystem for space companies in Colorado.”