WASHINGTON — LightRidge Solutions, a company that owns space and airborne sensor businesses, announced July 17 it has acquired space electronics supplier Trident Systems.
The value and terms of the deal were not disclosed. LightRidge is a portfolio company of ATL Partners, a private equity firm.
Trident, based in Fairfax, Virginia, supplies space electronics, including radio-frequency processors, software-defined radios, on-board processors and data storage systems for national security space missions.
Trident components used in Space Development Agency satellites
Northrop Grumman in March selected Trident to provide processing and storage electronics for 14 missile-detecting satellites Northrop is producing for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency.
Trident is LightRidge’s third acquisition since it was formed in 2021 as a holding company. Its portfolio includes Geost, a provider of space payloads, and Ophir Corp., a supplier of airborne laser radar systems.
“Trident is well known for its highly reliable, resilient, and open-architecture space electronics,” said Bill Gattle, CEO of LightRidge.
This acquisition, he said, will boost LightRidge’s national security space capabilities “and enable high-volume production and delivery under demanding schedule requirements.”
ATL Partners, based in New York City, has invested in small to medium sized defense businesses with mature technologies that can be applied to national security missions and also adapted for commercial needs.