Emerging Defense-Tech Prime Launches Dedicated Defense Business to Reinvigorate the U.S. Defense Industrial Base

Enlarged Commercial Infrastructure Built with New “Victory Works” Facility Dedicated to Innovation-at-Speed Defense Technology

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and emerging defense-tech prime, announced today the chartering of new operation dedicated to supporting national security space as a prime contractor: Sierra Space Defense. The company also unveiled expansion plans with a new production facility called “Victory Works,” adding 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space and bringing Sierra Space’s total infrastructure to more than one million square feet across seven states.

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Announcing Sierra Space Defense: Sierra Space is dedicating a new 60,000 sq-ft manufacturing facility, called “Victory Works,” to defense technology. [CREDIT: Sierra Space]

The launch of Sierra Space Defense and related infrastructure expansion plans are driven by a palpable sense of urgency: the United States is facing new threats and near-peer adversaries at unprecedented levels in the space domain. In response to the evolving threat environment, Sierra Space is retooling its commercial capacity to focus on revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base through innovative satellite and spacecraft systems technology.

Since 2023, Sierra Space has secured $1.5 billion in national security and defense contracts, for production on 30 satellites; included in that figure are 18 missile warning and defense satellites awarded by the Space Development Agency (SDA) in January 2024, as part of a $740M prime contract to support the SDA’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer. In addition, Space Force awarded Sierra Space a “Quick Start” Resilient GPS (R-GPS) agreement in September 2024. And the company continues to make strides in its spacecraft systems business, boasting more than 20 active contracts for solar arrays and other components.

Sierra Space Vice President Erik Daehler will helm the new organization.

“We are mission-focused and dedicated to supporting our national security customers and the revitalization of the U.S. defense industrial base. Commercial space companies now have a profound responsibility to help lead an entirely new era for national defense,” Daehler said. “The creation of Sierra Space Defense enables stronger partnerships – such as our steadfast partnership with SNC – to tackle the hardest mission problems like Golden Dome. Our new Sierra Space Defense organization is a testament to our dedication to innovation at speed and excellence in satellite and spacecraft systems production, which will shape the future of defense technology.”

Sierra Space will dedicate a new manufacturing facility, called “Victory Works,” to defense technology. Located in Centennial, Colorado, the 60,000 square-foot space will play a pivotal role in the production of the company’s new Sierra Space Eclipse^™ satellite bus line, a key component in Sierra Space’s efforts to enhance the capabilities of the U.S. defense sector. This expansion is on top of 24,000 square feet of existing sites dedicated to national security and defense work.

Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw (U.S. Space Force, Ret.) serves on Sierra Space’s National Security Space Strategic Advisor Group. “The growing scope and scale of what our adversaries are doing in space is alarming, and the threat environment is evolving rapidly as near-peer challenges accelerate,” Shaw said. “Commercial space companies possess the speed and agility required to outpace our adversaries and effectively respond to our critical national security space needs.”

In the Sierra Space Defense Portfolio:

• Sierra Space Eclipse: a next generation product line of small, high performance, affordable satellites for on-orbit servicing missions
• Sierra Space Ghost: a state-of-the-art space delivery system engineered to safely return objects from space – and through space – directly to precise locations on Earth
• Sierra Space Spectre: a revolutionary satellite designed for precision rendezvous proximity operations (RPO)
• Sierra Black OS: an advanced AI-enabled operating system that is able to operate across space, air and ground systems seamlessly

About Sierra Space

Sierra Space is a leading commercial space company and emerging defense tech prime that is building an end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit and protect life on Earth. With more than 30 years and 500 missions of space flight heritage, the company is reinventing both space transportation with Dream Chaser^®, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, and the future of space destinations with the company’s expandable space station technology. Using commercial business models, the company is also delivering orbital services to commercial, DoD and national security organizations, expanding production capacity to meet the needs of constellation programs. In addition, Sierra Space builds a host of systems and subsystems across solar power, mechanics and motion control, environmental control, life support, propulsion and thermal control, offering myriad space-as-a-service solutions for the new space economy.

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