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Boeing to Develop New Satellites in Huntington Beach

Boeing Co. will count on its Huntington Beach operations to probe the possibilities of a new line of satellites, even as it trims jobs and real estate throughout Orange County.

The aerospace company’s Huntington Beach hub has been tapped to develop Phantom Phoenix, a new line of small satellites that it hopes will find buyers in both the defense and commercial sectors. An overriding goal of the program is to manufacture systems quickly and affordably for specific missions.

Boeing aims to bring down the cost and production time for the Phantom Phoenix satellites now in development with shared avionics and software that could be tailored for a variety of market segments.

Chicago-based Boeing has signaled there is a demand for smaller satellites to produce a multibillion-dollar market in the next decade.

They would be used for everything from intelligence gathering to science education and weather tracking.

“There is a robust and diverse market that’s emerging in the area of small satellites,” said spokesperson Cheryl Sampson.

Boeing employs about 7,000 people in OC, a total that has fallen by 3,000 in recent years as the company has shifted its defense business away from big weapons and systems to stealth warfare and smaller weapon systems.

Its Huntington Beach hub has recently developed numerous small satellites. In December it delivered what’s called Space Environmental NanoSat Experiment satellites to the U.S. Air Force. The vehicles, which are about the size of a toaster and weigh less than 9 pounds, are powered by solar cells made by Boeing’s subsidiary, Spectrolab Inc., in Sylmar.

The “nanosats” are scheduled to launch this summer and contain sensors and GPS receivers that will gather data for weather prediction and analysis.

The Phantom Phoenix satellites under development in Huntington Beach are intended “to address the market between large geosynchronous (orbital) spacecraft and nanosatellites,” according to Darryl Davis, president of the company’s Phantom Works research and development arm in St. Louis.

The project is managed by Boeing’s St. Louis-based Defense, Space & Security division, which sees $33 billion in annual revenue and makes military equipment, systems and aircraft. The unit employs about 59,000 companywide.

The company is looking at potential sites in Southern California and elsewhere to produce the Phantom Phoenix satellites if the line proves viable.

Boeing does not provide local employment numbers by operating unit. It did not offer information on the number of employees or other resources that will go into the Phantom Phoenix development program in Huntington Beach.

The company is in the midst of a nationwide cost-cutting campaign to improve efficiencies, reduce executives and sell off unneeded real estate.

The Business Journal in November reported the company’s Southern California consolidation plan called for the sale of two of the 11 buildings on its 45-acre campus in Seal Beach.

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