L3Harris expands satellite production site

L3Harris Technologies is expanding its satellite production site to include advanced production of unclassified satellites, which will deliver experimental capabilities for national defense.

The Central Florida location is home to more than 100,000ft² of space used for development, manufacturing, and testing of full satellites and components which already deliver complex, classified capabilities for national defense. The increased production capability allows L3Harris to develop and test the experimental Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), which is a priority program for the U.S. Air Force. Facility investments also make it possible to develop and integrate three sizes of small-to-medium responsive satellites in support of urgent U.S. Department of Defense missions addressing evolving threats.

“Our customers face urgent threats that must be addressed in months rather than years,” said Ed Zoiss, president of L3Harris Space and Airborne Systems. “We prioritized facility investments to meet their accelerating timelines.”

Two of the company’s eight buildings have recently been upgraded to manufacture multiple end-to-end satellites per month. L3Harris has built eight satellites at the expanded Palm Bay facility that are currently on orbit and another 10 are in various stages of development. The company plans to add more production capacity by the end of the year to produce six satellites per month.