Sierra space building solar-power systems in new broomfield factory

MANUFACTURING

By Lucas High

BizWest / Prairie Mountain Media

Just weeks after Sierra Space Corp. publicly launched operations at a manufacturing facility in Centennial, the aerospace company says it is opening another plant in Broomfield, this factory specializing in building Surface Mount Technology, or SMT, solar power systems for defense clients.

“Sierra Space’s Power Station is a brand-new production facility that will house world-class manufacturing capabilities to produce Surface Mount Technology (SMT) defense-hardened solar arrays, which provide best-in-class power density, resiliency, and production lead times. Located in Broomfield, Colorado, the Power Station spans approximately 70,000 square feet, including office space,” SSC said in a news release Thursday.

Precisely where in Broomfield the new Sierra Space plant is located remains undisclosed — a company representative told BizWest only that the facility is “located near Hoyt Street.” SSC leases roughly 70,000 square feet in Broomfield at 800 Hoyt St.

“In addition to the SMT production lines, the $45 million facility also houses new tooling and an integrated test center that includes thermal vacuum/thermal air chambers, and a dynamics lab for vibration and pyroshock testing,” Sierra Space said this week. “These solar arrays have diverse applications, including for use on satellites.”

SSC this month formalized Sierra Space Defense, a business unit devoted to bolstering the Louisville-based firm’s position as prime military contractor for satellite systems and other aerospace technology. In support of the new division, which will be led by SSC vice president Erik Daehler, Sierra Space has established a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility — dubbed Victory Works — in Centennial.

Victory Works will be one of the primary production centers for the Sierra Space Eclipse satellite bus line. The Sierra Space Defense division will also be responsible for products such as Sierra Space Ghost, a delivery system engineered to return objects from space to precise locations on Earth; Sierra Space Spectre: a satellite designed for precision rendezvous proximity operations; and an operating system called Sierra Black OS.

“Sierra Space is re-industrializing the space-defense technology sector,” Daehler said in a prepared statement Thursday. “We have the ability to build a solar panel a day, and a wing a week. We plan to deliver 40 satellite wings in the first phase of production and are scaling up to a 100 satellites wings per year by our full rate of production. Additionally, because of our unique architecture, our solar arrays are more resilient. The Power Station is a proof point in our dedication to support national security.”

The company, which previously had 24,000 square feet of space dedicated to national security projects, said in early June that its facilities footprint now exceeds 1 million square feet across seven states.

Spun out of Sierra Nevada Corp. in 2021, Sierra Space began as a developer of aerospace technology with largely civilian applications. But SSC has increasingly shifted its focus to military clients of late.

The company in April successfully demonstrated a satellite-navigation platform built for the U.S. Space Force, and last year, Sierra inked a $740 million contract from the U.S. Space Development Agency to design and build 18 missile warning and tracking satellites. The company claims to have won about $1.5 billion in defense contracts over the past two years.

Outside of the military-aligned aerospace sphere, Sierra Space’s projects include the Dream Chaser space plane, which is expected to be used to resupply the International Space Station starting next year; and the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) Habitat, a modular, three-story commercial habitation, business and science platform.