York Space Systems (York), a Denver-based aerospace company dedicated to complete space mission solutions, today announced another award from the Space Development Agency (SDA), a $382 million contract to York to deliver 42 satellites in support of SDA’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL). York will produce these satellites, built on the LX-CLASS standard commercial platform, in the new facility for approximately half the price of its nearest peer competitors. York was also selected by SDA in August 2020 to provide 10 satellites for Tranche 0 and remains on schedule for delivery later this year.
The SDA Tranche 1 satellites, along with five other commercial constellations, are driving demand for a rapid increase in production capacity. York’s second manufacturing facility, located in the Denver Tech Center will reach initial operating capacity (IOC) this May. The new facility will triple the parallel capacity of York’s original facility and will be capable of producing up to 540 S-CLASS and LX-CLASS satellites per year for government and commercial customers.
“Winning another contract from SDA is an especially great honor and highlights the confidence the agency maintains not only in York’s highly affordable designs but also in the resilience of our supply chain and ability to deliver on the urgent timelines needed today,” said Dirk Wallinger, CEO of York. “We are happy that the government is taking advantage of the commercial sector’s investment in production lines, supply chains, and speed while still providing the government the most capable and secure solutions it demands. By utilizing the commercial sector’s capabilities, the government is able to achieve price points that are 50 percent less than what was historically possible, on timelines the market has never seen before. We are very proud to be an American company developing new aerospace technology, creating high paying jobs in Colorado, and building hardware domestically to support a vibrant and growing space economy.”
SDA’s Transport Layer will provide assured resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms. Tranche 0 is expected to launch by March 2023 with Tranche 1 anticipated to launch in Sept. 2024.
“By leveraging our commercial products and services to develop the Transport Layer, SDA is provisioning our national security with state-of-the-art technology and ensuring vital support of the 21st century American space industry,” said Melanie Preisser, Vice President,
National Systems at York. “As a retired USAF space acquisition and operations officer, I fully appreciate the importance of meeting urgent warfighter needs, especially in times of increasing hostilities. Achieving this operational capacity milestone will enable on-time delivery of Tranche 1 while meeting the high-quality production needs of our commercial customers.”
York anticipates hiring up to an additional 450 employees in the Denver metro area over the next two years to meet increasing government and commercial demand for York’s products and services including engineers, technicians, and business operations. The growth is bolstered by York’s projected 250 percent revenue growth for 2022, which would be the third consecutive year of over 230 percent year-over-year revenue growth. “Our entire team is dedicated to efficiency and successful execution. As a result, we have created a business which is proving it will be here to support our government and commercial customers for decades to come,” Wallinger added.
About York Space Systems
York Space Systems was founded to radically improve spacecraft affordability and reliability and is leading the industry in transforming and enabling next-generation space mission operations worldwide. York specializes in rapid production of complete mission-ready spacecraft platforms leveraging commercial development applied to numerous government and commercial missions. York’s complete solution includes spacecraft production, payload integration, system integration and test, launch services, ground segment services, and mission operations. By leveraging York’s existing technology solutions customers can rapidly and responsively get to orbit outpacing competitors. York’s proven S-CLASS and LX-CLASS platforms are standardized 3-axis stabilized spacecraft executing ISR, remote proximity, weather, and communication missions for a wide variety of government and commercial customers. It is fully compatible with most launch vehicles, including ground and air-launched, and ground segment providers. When combined with York’s cloud-based mission tasking and autonomous operations center, customers get an ultra-low-cost solution for on-demand data collection and analytics. For more information, visit http://www.YorkSpaceSystems.com.
