The Brain — Radiation-Hardened Electronics
The chips that survive cosmic radiation are made by three Western suppliers. One pure-play. Two are buried inside conglomerates.
Ordinary semiconductors die in orbit — cosmic rays would flip the bits of a normal smartphone chip within days. Rad-hard chips are specifically engineered, tested, and qualified — qualification cycles run 5 to 10 years. The dominant US single-board computer is BAE Systems' RAD750 (powers James Webb, Curiosity, Perseverance, GPS III; over 150 units in service). Microchip Technology supplies the rad-hard FPGAs and microcontrollers used on most US national-security smallsats. Frontgrade (formerly Cobham AES, Veritas Capital portfolio) is the third leg and is private. ITAR export controls plus the qualification moat make these three a rotating monopoly.
Every satellite needs rad-hard parts. Substitution is impossible within five years — this is the most durable moat in the entire space stack.
2 names on the watchlist
Maker of the RAD750 and RAD5545 — de facto US standard rad-hard space computer
BAE's Electronic Systems sector houses the world's longest-running rad-hard chip line . RAD750 is still flying on James Webb, Curiosity, Perseverance, multiple GPS III birds, and LRO. RAD5545 (45nm) powers software-defined radio payloads for Lockheed Martin. RAD510 is the next-gen. In 2021 DoD selected BAE to build the RH12 storefront — 12nm rad-hard ASIC design services for the US defense industrial base. BAE rad-hard systems have logged "over 11,500 years of successful operations in space" with no known failure.
Dominant supplier of rad-hard FPGAs and microcontrollers for US national-security smallsats
Microchip's aerospace & defense business — built on the Microsemi/Actel acquisition — supplies rad-hard FPGAs (SmartFusion, RTG4, PolarFire SoC), microcontrollers, memory, and analog/mixed-signal parts . PWSA Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 satellites are filled with Microchip parts. Pure space revenue is a small fraction of Microchip's ~$5B top line.