Millennium Space Systems is on track to double its small satellite production next year, and as it prepares for growth, the firm is looking for ways to balance manufacturing capacity and expansion with efficiency.<\/p>\n
CEO Tony Gingiss, who\u2019s been in the role since last December, told Defense News that much of his initial focus has been on managing the firm\u2019s growth. <\/p>\n
The company, which was founded in 2001 and acquired by Boeing in 2018, has delivered 14 commercial and government satellites to orbit. It\u2019s now positioned to produce about that same number of spacecraft this year alone and expects to double its deliveries next year, Gingiss said in a recent interview. <\/p>\n
The firm also has around 70 or 80 vehicles in its backlog to deliver over the next four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally, my focus is on the team, the infrastructure, the processes that we have, the tools that we have … to be able to meet that demand,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a commitment to today, but also to continue to fill the pipe with new customers and new business because there\u2019s clearly a lot of exciting things going on in the industry that we want to be prepared to continue to respond to and win work to keep filling our pipe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Millennium is a key provider for several Space Force programs, including 12 satellites for Space Systems Command\u2019s Missile Track Custody program<\/a> and eight vehicles for the Space Development Agency\u2019s Foo Fighter effort<\/a> \u2014 both programs focused on space-based missile warning and tracking. <\/p>\n For both programs, the company is scheduled to deliver initial satellites in fiscal 2027.<\/p>\n To accommodate those spacecraft and other Defense Department and NASA programs, the company is focused on two levers that Gingiss said are key to scaling capabilities: efficiency and capacity.<\/p>\n On the efficiency front, the firm and its parent company Boeing have been working to introduce more automation and build in commonality between product lines that allow for more capacity and output without a larger footprint. <\/p>\n The company is also streamlining processes so that its various operations \u2014 from manufacturing to analysis \u2014 take less time to conduct. <\/p>\n While those approaches helped make room for more work, the Foo Fighter contract Millennium received last year required further expansion to its vehicle integration capabilities. Rather than build a new facility, the company announced in April it would use 18,000 square feet of existing space adjacent to its current small site factory that resides within Boeing\u2019s facility in El Segundo, California. That amounts to about a 30% increase to Millennium\u2019s overall manufacturing footprint and will come online later this year. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you turn both of those knobs of efficiency and capacity simultaneously, ultimately what you do is increase capacity, but you decrease the dollar per capacity unit that you\u2019re spending because you\u2019re getting more value with every hour spent,\u201d Gingiss said.<\/p>\n