波音公司与千年空间系统公司（Millennium Space Systems）新型中型航天器“果敢”号（Resolute）的艺术渲染图。图片来源：波音公司。
科罗拉多斯普林斯——波音公司正将其卫星业务与子公司千年空间系统公司更紧密地结合，以应对正在重塑国防太空市场的新一代低成本供应商的竞争。
该公司于4月16日宣布，已为军事和商业客户开发出一种中型或称“微型GEO”（微型地球静止轨道）卫星平台，该平台结合了波音的有效载荷技术与千年空间系统公司的快速生产模式。
高管们将这一努力描述为捕捉小型化、低成本卫星需求并缩短交付周期的大趋势的一部分。在这些领域，受风险投资支持的初创企业通过提供比传统国防承包商周期更短、价格更低的卫星，已经获得了五角大楼的青睐。
波音空间、情报与武器系统副总裁兼总经理凯·西尔斯（Kay Sears）表示：“通过千年公司，我们拥有了初创企业的思维模式，同时又具备主承包商的资源和底蕴，我们不必在传统底蕴与敏捷性之间做选择。”
西尔斯与千年空间系统公司首席执行官托尼·金吉斯（Tony Gingiss）在空间研讨会期间接受了记者的采访。
千年空间系统公司于2001年在南加州成立，是一家为政府和商业客户建造小型卫星的厂商。在大多数国防主承包商专注于大型定制系统时，该公司在低成本、快速周转航天器领域开辟了细分市场。
该公司稳步扩大了其在国家安全太空项目中的足迹，为五角大楼提供小卫星平台和任务解决方案。波音公司于2018年收购了千年公司，此后一直将其作为一个基本独立的子公司运营，将其作为将更敏捷的制造实践引入其卫星业务的载体，同时保留千年公司快速的生产节奏和专注于小卫星的文化。
“我们正在调整我们的空间业务……”（注：原文此处中断）
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
