Artist rendering of Boeing and Millennium Space Systems’ new mid-class spacecraft called Resolute Credit: Boeing
COLORADO SPRINGS — Boeing is aligning its satellite operations more closely with subsidiary Millennium Space Systems as it moves to compete with a new generation of lower-cost suppliers reshaping the defense space market.
The company announced April 16 it has developed a mid-sized, or “micro GEO,” satellite platform for military and commercial customers that combines Boeing’s payload technology with Millennium’s faster production model.
Executives described the effort as part of a broader push to capture demand for smaller and lower-cost satellites and speed up delivery timelines — areas where venture-backed startups have gained traction with the Pentagon by offering satellites on shorter schedules and at lower price points than traditional defense contractors.
“We have a startup mentality with Millennium, but with the resources and heritage of a prime and we don’t have to make a choice between heritage and agility,” said Kay Sears, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space, Intelligence & Weapons Systems.
Sears and Tony Gingiss, chief executive of Millennium Space, spoke with reporters on the sidelines of the Space Symposium.
Millennium Space Systems was founded in 2001 in Southern California as a builder of small satellites for government and commercial customers, carving out a niche in lower-cost, faster-turnaround spacecraft at a time when most defense primes were focused on larger, bespoke systems.
The company steadily expanded its footprint in national security space programs, supplying smallsat buses and mission solutions to the Pentagon. Boeing acquired Millennium in 2018 and has since operated it as a largely independent subsidiary, using it as a vehicle to bring more agile manufacturing practices into its satellite business while preserving Millennium’s faster production cadence and smallsat-focused culture.
“We’re aligning our space business to meet a market that is moving faster and asking for more flexibility,” said Sears.
100 satellite backlog
Gingiss said the company intends to continue to focus on small satellites, with 100 spacecraft in its backlog. At the same time, Millennium is now venturing into a mid-class satellite platform co-developed with its parent company.
The new bus, called Resolute, is aimed at missions that need more capability than a traditional small satellite can provide, but that can be produced faster than a typical large satellite program. Boeing said the platform is multi-orbit, but it is expected to compete in the emerging “micro GEO” market for space-based communications and sensing.
Micro GEO is industry shorthand for geostationary satellites that are smaller and cheaper than traditional GEO platforms, an approach that has gained traction as manufacturers push GEO architectures toward smallsat economics using more compact payloads.
Gingiss said the effort emerged from a gap between the