Defense Giants Move Toward High-Volume Manufacturing to Meet Surging Space Force Demand

Boeing has commissioned a new 9,000 square foot production line at its satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo to accelerate the delivery of advanced missile-defense sensors. This expansion provides the manufacturing capacity required to deliver 12 satellites for the U.S. Space Force Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking (MWT) MEO program, a project designed to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic threats from medium Earth orbit. The space vehicles are being built by Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems and are now scheduled for delivery in mid-2027 following earlier supply chain delays.

The opening of this dedicated line marks a transition from rapid prototyping to high-rate manufacturing for electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) payloads. By establishing standardized assembly processes for these sensors, the company is attempting to resolve the industrial bottlenecks that have previously slowed the deployment of space-based defense systems. This move aligns with a broader push by the Department of Defense to put the defense industrial base on a wartime footing to counter emerging global threats.

Boeing is not alone in this shift toward high-volume orbital hardware. Northrop Grumman has also prioritized scaling its production capacity to meet a commitment of 150 satellites for the Space Development Agency’s proliferated architecture. The company recently dedicated a portion of its $1.65 billion capital expenditure budget for 2026 to ensure its Space Park campus can handle the rapid production cycles required for the latest tracking layers of the national defense network. Lockheed Martin is similarly scaling its infrastructure to support this multilayered shield, focusing on the digital backbone that connects orbital data to ground-based interceptors.

This industry-wide factory expansionis a central component of the Golden Dome initiative, a multibillion-dollar effort to integrate space-based sensors and interceptors into a unified national defense shield. The 12 satellites produced by Millennium Space Systems for the Epoch 1 phase of the MWT MEO program will provide a layer of persistent tracking that bridges the gap between low-altitude constellations and traditional large satellites in higher orbits. This multi-layered architecture is intended to be more resilient against anti-satellite capabilities than the legacy systems it is designed to replace.

Boeing Space Mission Systems has set a goal to deliver 26 satellites across its entire portfolio during 2026, which would represent a doubling of its 2025 output. The new El Segundo line, which is approximately the size of two professional basketball courts, is optimized for the assembly and testing of dual-spectrum detection systems. It allows the company to scale production across multiple programs as the United States and its allies transition toward proliferated, multi-orbit sensor networks.

As the program matures, the Space Force has begun awarding contracts for subsequent phases. In June 2025, BAE Systems was selected as the prime contractor for Epoch 2, receiving a $1.2 billion award to produce 10 additional satellites. L3Harris Technologies is also contributing to the architecture, developing sensor prototypes designed to maintain "custody" of high-speed targets as they move across different orbital planes.

With Epoch 2 now underway, scalable manufacturing has become a central national security priority. The ability to produce high-performance sensors at a predictable rate marks a shift from the historically slow, bespoke construction of individual spacecraft to a more standardized, repeatable production model. This transition reflects the broader move toward volume-based manufacturing needed to field and sustain resilient, proliferated orbital defense networks.