Carol Collins
L3Harris Technologies plans to boost its satellite production capacity at its Central Florida location in an effort to facilitate the development of unclassified satellites for demonstration of new signals and technologies to support national defense.
The company said Tuesday the site expansion will give way for the development and testing of the Navigation Technology Satellite-3, one of the U.S. Air Force’s Vanguard programs.
By the end of the year, L3Harris looks to increase its manufacturing capacity to six satellites a month following the upgrades the company made on two of its eight buildings.
The site expansion will also enable the integration of three sizes of responsive satellites meant to assist in the urgent missions of the Department of Defense.
“Our customers face urgent threats that must be addressed in months rather than years. We prioritized facility investments to meet their accelerating timelines,” said Ed Zoiss, president of L3Harris’ space and airborne systems business.
The NTS-3, slated to launch in 2022, will help demonstrate USAF technologies’ ability to identify and mitigate interference to positioning, navigation and timing capabilities as well as boost the system’s resiliency.
