Palladyne AI Secures Next-Generation Spacecraft Contract, Unlocking New High-Growth Opportunity

via Business Wire

Space Domain Expansion Opens Growth Opportunity for Embodied Autonomy and Avionics Platforms

Palladyne AI (NASDAQ: PDYN), a U.S.-based defense and industrial technology company delivering embedded AI powered collaborative autonomy solutions, advanced avionics, precision-manufactured components, UAVs, and advanced aerospace engineering services, today announced that its subsidiary, GuideTech, has secured a new contract with Portal Space Systems to support the development of next-generation, maneuverable spacecraft platforms. This new engagement marks a strategic expansion of Palladyne AI’s market opportunity into the space domain, supporting Palladyne AI’s positioning as a trusted autonomy partner across multiple domains.

Under the terms of the contract, GuideTech will provide capabilities spanning navigation, guidance, spacecraft modeling, embedded software, and avionics support. The collaboration supports Portal Space Systems’ mission to deliver highly maneuverable, flexible spacecraft platforms for civil, defense, and commercial applications.

“This contract represents an important step for Palladyne AI and GuideTech while opening the opportunity to extend our autonomy capabilities into the space domain,” said Ben Wolff, President and CEO, Palladyne AI. “Portal Space Systems is tackling a class of missions that requires rapid decision-making, precision control, and high confidence in autonomous operations. Our work on navigation, controls, and flight software supports these requirements and further positions Palladyne AI to be a trusted autonomy partner to Portal as the relationship expands.”

“True orbital maneuverability only works if it’s paired with fast, autonomous decision-making,” said Jeff Thornburg, CEO and CTO, Portal Space Systems. “From the beginning, we’ve designed Portal’s spacecraft around the reality that missions can’t wait for the ground to decide every move. GuideTech has helped us turn advanced maneuver concepts into executable missions, and the addition of Palladyne AI’s autonomy will enable mission decisions that can keep pace with our maneuvers.”

“Portal Space Systems is building the most maneuverable and flexible spacecraft platforms needed today for civil, defense, and commercial missions,” continued Thornburg. “Portal is advancing novel maneuvering technology that moves faster and farther than traditional spacecraft, enabling missions that require repositioning across orbits on compressed timelines. GuideTech has been a key partner in translating this novelty into real missions. They have supported mission planning for rapid and transorbital maneuvers that had not been demonstrated before, as well as the development of flight software and operational design needed to validate how those maneuvers can be performed. This work has helped move Portal’s capabilities from hypothetical to demonstrable, creating a foundation not only for proof and operational use but also for future training and mission rehearsal as these new maneuver profiles become part of real-world operations.”

For more information on Palladyne AI and GuideTech, please visit https://www.palladyneai.com. For more information on Portal Space Systems, please visit https://www.portalsystems.space/.

About Palladyne AI

Palladyne AI is a U.S.-based technology company developing patented embodied artificial intelligence, collaborative autonomy solutions, advanced avionics, autonomous systems, advanced UAV engineering services, and precision-manufactured components for defense and industrial markets. Palladyne AI delivers secure, American-developed and operated platforms designed to meet the stringent requirements of U.S. government and public-sector customers, including data sovereignty, security, and compliance.

Palladyne AI’s embodied AI is designed to operate in complex, contested, and high-risk environments, enabling distributed tasking, human-on-the-loop decision-making, degraded-communications resilience, and multi-domain coordination. Its platform-agnostic autonomy stack combines real-time sensor fusion, adaptive AI models, and edge-native orchestration—without vendor lock-in—to support autonomous and collaborative systems across air, ground, maritime, and industrial domains where performance, resilience, and trust are paramount. For more information about Palladyne AI, including GuideTech and Palladyne Defense, please visit www.palladyneai.com.

About Portal Space Systems

Portal Space Systems is a next-generation spacecraft company headquartered in Washington state. The company builds re-deployable, maneuverable spacecraft designed to support defense, civil, and commercial missions on operational timelines. Portal emerged from stealth in 2024, earned STRATFI support, raised one of the largest publicly announced seed rounds in the sector, and was named a Via Satellite “Top 10 Startup to Watch.”

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Palladyne AI’s ability to apply its autonomy technology to space applications; future expected collaboration between Palladyne AI and Portal Space Systems; and the future implementation of Palladyne AI autonomy with Portal Space Systems platforms. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events, or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by, or include the words “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “plans,” “scheduled,” “anticipates,” “intends” or “continue” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Palladyne AI’s management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results, or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Palladyne AI is not under any obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports which Palladyne AI has filed or will file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in particular the risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections of those reports entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” for a description of risks facing Palladyne AI and that could cause actual events, results or performance to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements contained herein. The documents filed by Palladyne AI with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

“This contract represents an important step for Palladyne AI and GuideTech while opening the opportunity to extend our autonomy capabilities into the space domain,” said Ben Wolff, President and CEO, Palladyne AI.

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