On 29th January, U.S. satellite manufacturer York Space Systems started public trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares opened at $38, higher than the initial public offering (IPO) price of $34. The company, valued at around $4.75 billion, raised 629$ million from the IPO.
York Space designs and builds satellites, supplies ground systems and operates constellations. The company started as a small satellite specialist over a decade ago, and slowly moved into the national security space market over the years. In 2022 York grew more quickly after signing a deal to supply satellites to the Space Development Agency. Since the Pentagon’s push for great amounts of lower-cost spacecraft, York has been the main supplier for it.
Chief executive Dirk Wallinger indicated that York anticipates gains from the increased U.S. defense budgets, as the company continues satellite production for the Space Development Agency and seeks contracts related to new defense programs such as the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system.
“We’re at about 300 space vehicles a year,” Wallinger said. “We want to ramp that up more … A thousand is probably aggressive, but we want to certainly aim and vector in that direction and start moving towards it, which this IPO will help us do.”
According to Wallinger, since defense spending trends aren’t prone to reverse, the company should focus on military contracts.
“The reality is that defense budgets are not going down, they’re going up,” he said. “Regardless of which administration is in power,” Wallinger added, “We do have threats. We do have needs that need to be addressed that, frankly, aren’t being addressed now … so defense companies are going to do well.” He believes York is in a good position because “we are half the price of any of our peers.”
