DANBURY, Conn.—ARKA Group, L.P. reported that it completed an $85 million expansion of its 550,000-square-foot facility in Danbury, where the company is headquartered. The addition expands ARKA’s production capabilities for small satellite (smallsat) systems and payloads, as well as its optical coating capabilities, the company said in a release.
The two-year, 14,000-foot expansion is reported to provide modern cleanrooms for rapid alignment, integration, and test of sub-meter aperture EO/IR telescopes and payloads. The optimized layout, combined with deployment of the latest generation digital engineering and manufacturing tools, provides efficiencies for ARKA to perform multi-shift payload production, according to the release.
The addition features a custom-designed facility that enables “world-class, resilient, space-qualified, thin film coatings on optics for all missions,” the company said. These upgrades are reported to further extend the site’s capabilities to “meet any delivery rate currently required or foreseen in the coming years.”
“This expansion supports our increased production of sub-meter telescopes and payloads, keeping the eyes in the sky that our nation and allies depend upon for security, particularly as proliferated low earth orbit constellations grow,” said Charlie Schaub, senior vice president of ARKA’s Space and Defense business, in the release. “The enhancements further strengthen and balance our capabilities in both smallsat payloads and large optics for ground- and space-based scientific and national security missions.”
The expansion brings to closure the most recent tranche of capital investment in ARKA’s engineering and manufacturing facility, which has reportedly totaled nearly $100 million over the past dozen years. During that time, the Danbury site has added 31,000 square feet of new cleanroom manufacturing space while modernizing an additional 15,000 square feet, according to the company.
ARKA said its 60-year legacy reaches back to the beginnings of our country’s space endeavors. The company addresses the needs of the warfighter through advanced capabilities that include optical technologies, ground processing and analytics, and next-generation space products.