Chris Vakovsky

Chris Vakovsky, a private investor, asked about the potential for normalization of gross margins, considering the impact of non-space military applications, R&D efforts, program delays, and funding interruptions.

Answer

President and CEO Thomas McClelland clarified that while recent lower margins were partly due to program delays and new development efforts, non-space defense activities are generally high-margin. He confirmed that most requirements issues have been resolved and anticipated margin normalization, noting that the government shutdown primarily affected new contract starts rather than ongoing programs.