2025 Market Facts VRP - Flipbook - Page 80
72 | ECO NO MI C PRO FI L E & MA R K ET FACT S 2025
COURTESY SSC
The production floor of Sierra Space’s Power Station factory in Broomfield. Courtesy SSC.
AEROSPACE
Region’s aerospace industry takes off
Aerospace long has been a dominant industry in the Boulder Valley and
Northern Colorado, and the sector appears poised for continued growth.
From Sierra Space Corp. in Louisville to Northrup Grumman (NYSE:
NOL) in Boulder, from Maxar Technologies in Westminster to BAE Systems Inc. Space & Mission Systems in Boulder and Broomfield, companies
large and small contribute to the region’s status as one of the country’s
main centers of aerospace research and manufacturing.
Sierra Space Corp. in Louisville is building the DreamChaser, a space
plane that has completed its testing, and in late 2024 will resupply the International Space Station. It’s also building a three-story Large Integrated
Flexible Environment (LIFE) Habitat that will become a commercial lab,
live, work space in orbit. And it’s working on the Orbital Reef commercial
space station.
BAE Systems PLC, which recently bought Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., continues to develop an expansion of its Boulder facility. BAE
successfully launched the MethaneSAT satellite to gather greenhouse-gas
emissions data.
Northrup Grumman (NYSE: NOL) pulls down major, multi-million
dollar contracts to support the U.S. missile launch capabilities.
New companies, such as Solstar Space Co., witnessing the rollout of
technology and the interest of the regional universities in preparing the
next generation of rocket scientists, hang their shingles in Boulder and
regional cities that have become home to the growing industry.
Other companies include, but are not limited to:
• Maxar Technologies, a Westminster-based aerospace company specializing in satellite imagery, recently inked three new contracts for its
Maxar Intelligence division that total $204.7 million.
• Sierra Space Corp., a Louisville-based aerospace company that
recently opened a manufacturing facility in Centennial, is opening
another plant in Broomfield to manufacture Surface Mount Technology, or SMT, solar power systems for defense clients.
• MMA Space moved its headquarters from Louisville to Broom昀椀eld’s
Baseline development late last year, doubling the footprint of the
company, which manufactures solar arrays and communications
antennas.
• BAE Systems Inc. Space & Mission Systems, the Broom昀椀eld-based
subsidiary of British defense contractor BAE Systems PLC that last
year absorbed Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., recently won a
$1.2 billion contract from the U.S. Space Systems Command to provide the U.S. Space Force with missile-tracking satellite capabilities.
• Ursa Major Technologies Inc., based in Berthoud, and Raytheon’s
Tucson, Arizona-based rocket unit have completed a successful missile
flight test for the U.S. Army, using the companies’ advanced longrange solid rocket motor.
And much more.
Aerospace remains one of Colorado’s critical industries, with the state
ranking No. 1 nationally in terms of concentration of aerospace employment
as a percent of total employment in all industries, with the Boulder Valley
and Northern Colorado representing a significant portion of that employment base, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
— Ken Amundson contributed to this report.
