ARKA Group, L.P. recently completed a major expansion of the company’s 550,000 square-foot facility in Danbury, Connecticut, where the company is headquartered, to expand production capability of smallsat systems, payloads and optical coating capabilities.
The two-year, 14,000-foot expansion provides 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. The addition also features a custom-designed facility enabling world-class, resilient, space-qualified, thin film coatings on optics for all missions. These upgrades further extend the site’s unmatched capabilities to meet any delivery rate currently required or foreseen in the coming years.
The expansion brings to closure the most recent tranche of capital investment in ARKA’s engineering and manufacturing facility, which has 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.
“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 & Defense business. “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.”
About ARKA
Based in Danbury, Connecticut, ARKA is a fully integrated mission partner providing world-leading technologies and services with an unrivaled reputation for excellence. ARKA’s 60-year legacy reaches back to the beginnings of our country’s space endeavors. Our advanced capabilities address the needs of the warfighter, including world-class optical technologies, ground processing and analytics and next-generation space solutions. ARKA helps create a safer world, driven by innovation, mission performance and advanced engineering.