By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Redwire Corp (NYSE:RDW) stock jumped Tuesday after revealing that it will provide critical navigation components and roll-out solar array technology for NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission.
The mission, which is set to launch no earlier than November 23 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, is described as the "world's first planetary defense test mission."
Redwire shares jumped to a high of $12.15 on the news. However, they quickly retraced and are now down 2% at $10.27.
The company has already delivered two Roll-Out Solar Arrays for the program in a contract with John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The arrays will power the entire spacecraft according to Redwire, with each featuring the company's Flexible Array Concentrator Technology Solar Power Modules.
"As a critical mission partner, we are leveraging our innovative, flight-proven technology to enable truly game-changing missions, like DART, that are expanding our understanding of the solar system and ushering in an exciting new era of exploration," said Andrew Rush, president and COO of Redwire.
The mission is aiming to change the trajectory of an asteroid in space. Redwire said the DART spacecraft will travel millions of miles to an asteroid, where it will crash into its moonlet to adjust its speed and path.
"Redwire's ROSA technology is compact, modular and scalable, making it ideal for use on various spaceflight platforms," the company said.