FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —Space Photonics, Inc., a GENESIS Technology Incubator client at the University of Arkansas, has been awarded a $16.2 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. This represents one of the largest Department of Defense awards ever made to a Northwest Arkansas company.

“This contract will be transformational for our company. It takes us beyond our previous bread and butter SBIR research and development projects into a new level of business opportunities,” said Chuck Chalfant, president and CEO of Space Photonics, Inc. “The four-year program will produce a range of laser communications systems for the Air Force and will lead to a much larger customer base in the aerospace industry.”

The contract will be used to advance technology readiness levels to target goals by the end of the contract in 2009.  Specifically, the contract will provide resources necessary to develop the Intelligent Free Space Optical Communications Node prototypes to be fully ready for use on spacecraft. This technology will enable communication, location and uplink to other satellites within an established network using laser communications systems.

This award serves as a capstone on the success Space Photonics has realized as a contractor for advanced military communications systems The company has garnered a total of 13 prior contract Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards since starting business in 1999, and leads Arkansas in SBIR generated revenue with a total of almost $5.4 million in SBIR contracts. Most of the programs have been with the Air Force, but other awards have come from the Army, NASA, and the National Science Foundation.

“With this award, SPI has 'graduated’ from just SBIR grant support to recognition as a valued defense contractor able to produce the next generation of technologies required by the aerospace industry” said Phillip Stafford, president of the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation. “We are proud of SPI's accomplishments to date and we look forward to their continued growth and emergence as a leader in the field of optical networking.”

Space Photonics is a small research and development company with offices and labs in the GENESIS Technology Incubator located at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park.  The company specializes in developing and marketing optical networking systems and components specifically designed to address the reliability and bandwidth limitations of military and commercial aircraft and spacecraft.  The firm’s products enable aerospace designers to embed high-capability optical networking capabilities into their systems.  To learn more, visit the company’s Web site at www.spacephotonics.com.