A factory in northern England is the only place in the world that Elon Musk can find an amplifier needed for his Starlink satellites — and he now is paying millions for another batch.

The technology mogul’s ambition to fill the skies with more than 42,000 Starlink internet satellites, an increase from just over 6,200 at the moment, has proved lucrative for Filtronic.

• Filtronic investors will be over moon at deal with Musk’s SpaceX

The company, which makes parts at its headquarters in Sedgefield, Co Durham, and has offices in Leeds and Manchester, has confirmed a £6.4 million order with the American space technology player, a wholly owned subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX aerospace group.

Filtronic now expects to beat market expectations for its 2025 financial year thanks to the deal and Cavendish, its house broker, lifted a forecast for next year’s pre-tax profit by 20 per cent, from £6.4 million to £7.7 million. The company’s year-end net cash forecast has risen from £6.6 million to £8 million.

Edward Stacey, director of research at Cavendish, said that Filtronic was the only company in the world that could solve the problem of making more powerful amplifiers for antennas without signal distortion. It also makes antennas for mobile phone masks, the military and American police and fire services.

“This deal has given us a 10 per cent revenue upgrade and the shares are up almost fivefold from last year,” Stacey said. “Low-Earth-orbit satellites came from almost nothing to represent half of the company’s revenue.

“SpaceX could not find anyone else to make this crucial part, even among all the big satellite makers in the United States. It also wants a new generation antenna that is even more powerful, so Filtronic is working on that, which will continue to enhance growth.”

Musk, 53, who also owns Tesla, the carmaker, and X, the social media platform, launched SpaceX in 2002 with ambitions to provide internet access to even the most remote global regions. The company is now valued at $210 billion and has about three million customers in 99 countries.

After an initial $9 million order in July, Filtronic won the follow-on production order for power amplifier modules to develop the Starlink satellite network as part of a partnership announced in April. SpaceX now holds warrants for more than 10.9 million Filtronic shares, or 5 per cent of the stock capital. SpaceX’s order for e-band solid-state power amplifiers will be fulfilled in 2025.

Filtronic’s expansion into the low-Earth-orbit satellite communications market began with its first significant order in January 2023.

This time last year shares in Filtronic were changing hands for 17p. They closed last night at 79½p, up 3½p, or 4.6 per cent.