Boeing Co., the contractor developing a reusable space plane for the U.S. military, agreed to buy a builder of small satellites like those the craft is designed to carry as President Trump focuses on expanding American power beyond the planet’s borders.
The Chicago-based planemaker didn’t say how much it would pay for Millennium Space Systems, which builds high-performance satellites weighing from 50 to 6,000 kilograms for national security clients. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Millennium has about 260 employees who will join Boeing’s $21 billion Defense, Space and Security Division. They will report to Mark Cherry, head of Boeing’s Phantom Works product-development unit once the deal is completed, likely before the end of September.
The target’s “expertise in vertically-integrated small-satellite solutions perfectly complements Boeing’s existing satellite portfolio, and will allow us to meet the needs of a diverse customer set,” Leanne Caret, head of Boeing’s defense business, said in a statement. The acquisition comes as military contractors take advantage of a boom from the White House’s interest in space exploration and defense, with Trump proposing missions to the moon and Mars while developing a Space Force.
It’s a multipronged effort. A push to streamline the process for companies seeking to do business off-planet, for instance, benefits firms like Lockheed Martin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX that are part of a global industry valued at $335 billion in 2015. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has created what he refers to as a “one-stop shop” for the industry that will offer a streamlined, central interface to handle everything from remote sensing to export controls, trade promotion and space traffic management.
Since Trump took office in January 2017, his administration has “taken decisive action to strengthen American power in space,” Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech at the Pentagon last week on such initiatives.
The defense budget the president signed earlier this year includes $1 billion for space programs, and the administration is asking Congress to allocate another $8 billion for such efforts over the next five years.
The space plane that Boeing is developing for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is one piece of that effort. Known as the Phantom Express, it’s an unmanned craft designed to carry satellites from 400 to 1,300 kilograms into orbit, then return to Earth and be ready for another flight in a matter of hours.
“We must do our part to make bold breakthroughs, strengthen America’s industrial base, and deliver the cutting-edge warfighting capabilities faster than our adversaries could ever imagine,” Pence said. “And that’s exactly what Americans will do.”
Boeing rose 4.3 percent to $345.98 in New York trading on Thursday. The shares have climbed 17 percent this year, more than three times the gain of the broader S&P 500.
