Shares of Redwire climbed after the space-and-defence company said a subsidiary would send its orbital pharma technology to low-Earth orbit on SpaceX's Starfall spacecraft.

The stock rose 9.7%, to $11.76, midday Thursday, extending its 54% gain year-to-date.

Redwire said earlier Thursday it plans to fill a Starfall vehicle with its Pharmaceutical In-Space Laboratory devices, which allow researchers to experiment with drugs in microgravity environments with the aim of producing new compounds.

Starfall would reenter Earth from space as part of the mission, bringing the pharma cargo back for analysis. The first flight is slated for 2028.

Redwire's agreement with SpaceX came a day after the company narrowed its second-quarter loss and reported higher revenue, driven by what Chief Executive Peter Cannito called successful execution.

The Jacksonville, Fla., company posted a loss of $41.5 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a loss of $126.7 million, or $1.41 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the loss came out to 9 cents a share.

Total revenues jumped 90%, to $117.1 million.

"With a record backlog of $542.1 million and a strengthened balance sheet to enable strategic investments, Redwire is scaling to meet the strong demand we see for our mission critical space and defense tech offerings," Cannito said.

Looking ahead, Redwire reaffirmed its full-year revenue outlook of $450 million to $500 million. Analysts are looking for $469.3 million.