7 Space Mission Companies Making Stellar Moves in 2023

The expansive space domain is suitable for deploying new satellites and spacecraft, testing new space technologies for warfare and communication relay, and establishing stations designed to identify and destroy threats before they reach Earth, thus enhancing overall defense and homeland security.

Leading the charge of these efforts are companies dedicated to fine-tuning space technology and defense mission portfolios to advance deep space exploration and security and safety in all domains.

Below are the space mission companies that made stellar moves for the government contracting field in 2023 and will carry over the same acumen in the following years.

7 Space Mission Companies Making Waves in 2023

NOTE: The following list of space mission companies is ranked in no particular order. The selection criteria are based on a variety of factors, including market capitalization, revenue, and overall industry impact. That said, while they are highly regarded in the industry, plenty of other companies also offer exceptional products and services.

Airbus US Space & Defense

• Revenue: $13 billion (€ 11.8 billion; 1st Quarter FY March 2023)

• Founded: 2019

• Headquarters: Arlington, Virginia

Airbus US Space & Defense Inc. specializes in developing space systems, military aircraft, connected intelligence, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for military and federal government customers. Founded in 2019, Airbus US Space & Defense is the North American arm of Airbus SE, a European multinational aerospace defense company headquartered in the Netherlands.

Despite being a relatively new company, Airbus US brings to the table over 50 years of expertise and experience in providing innovative and effective solutions equipped with the highest security standards to support federal government customers in all-domain defense missions. With more than 100,000 employees operating in Arlington, Virginia, and other locations worldwide, Airbus US is dedicated to fine-tuning its offerings and solutions to protect the world from all kinds of threats.

What’s next for Airbus US Space & Defense?

Military aircraft and helicopters are among the prime and sought-after products of Airbus US Space & Defense. In a significant development for Airbus U.S.’s aircraft product line, the company added two new US-built configurations to its roster of H125 helicopters.

The new configurations, known as AH-125 and MH-125 Ares, are equipped with militarized options tailor-made for the needs of Airbus US’s military, private, and public clients worldwide. AH-125 Ares was designed as an armed-variant structure, while MH-125-Ares would serve as a multi-role helicopter capable of a wide range of missions.

Scott Tumpak, Vice President of Airbus U.S. Space and Defense’s military business segment, highlighted that the new helicopter configurations would provide the US Armed Forces and its allies enhanced capability, flexibility, reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness they need to achieve success in rotary wing missions, light attacks, disaster response, and rescue operations.

Parsons Corporation

• Revenue: $1.17 billion (1st Quarter FY March 2023)

• Founded: 1944

• Headquarters: Centreville, Virginia

Parsons Corporation is a leading provider of digitally-enabled solutions tailored to shaping the future of defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure enterprises. Founded in 1944 by engineer and business visionary Ralph M. Parsons, the corporation leverages over 70 years of expertise to deliver cutting-edge adaptable offerings and solutions at the speed of relevance for multidomain solutions.

Parson’s contribution to national security encompasses transforming the battlefield with a wide range of tangible and intangible solutions and countermeasures. These include engineering and technical services, health and biomedical research, cybersecurity, electronic warfare, satellite platforms, and complex space networks.

What’s next for Parsons Corporation?

April 28, 2023, was pivotal for Parson’s space business segment as it was selected by the U.S. Space System Command (SSC) to deliver Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) missile warning and tracking systems in advance to support the Intelligence Community’s C5ISR missions. 

With contract funds worth $55 million, Parsons was given six years to support SSC’s effort by manufacturing and delivering ground-segment services and testing these capabilities before the launch of the agency’s Missile Track Custody (MTC) Epoch 1 infrastructure. 

Through this missile-tracking system, SSC can perform command and control, mission management, sensor mission data processing, data product dissemination, and ground resource management services and enhance the delivery of data to military decision-makers in real time.

Redwire Space

• Revenue: $62 million (1st Quarter FY 2023)

• Founded: 2020

• Headquarters: Jacksonville, Florida

Redwire Space entered the space and missions domain in 2020 as a provider of mission-critical solutions and high-accuracy components for advanced space systems and infrastructure. The company was a merger between Adcole Space and Deep Space Systems, two former prime aerospace companies specializing in developing, testing, and providing satellites, avionics systems, and space-qualified cameras for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other federal agencies.

Redwire Space’s professional legacy positioned it to be a formidable force when it comes to defending space and Earth from all kinds of threats. It leverages a combined 90 years of expertise to modernize and fine-tune old space technologies and defense strategies and support federal government customers and allies in achieving mission success.

What’s next for Redwire Space?

A testament to Redwire Space’s competence in space and missions is its enduring collaboration with NASA. On March 24, 2023, Redwire Space was chosen by NASA to complete the design of FabLab with funds worth $5.9 million. This contract is a follow-up to an earlier agreement Redwire Space won in 2017.

FabLab is an in-space multi-material 3D printer designed to produce components made of metal, plastic, ceramics, and electronics. Under the new contract, Redwire Space will fine-tune the 2017 prototype to space-flight-ready status. Through this overhaul effort, Redwire Space will be actively contributing to NASA’s production of components for spacecraft, such as the Artemis, for missions to Mars and the Moon.

KBR

• Revenue: $1.7 billion (1st Quarter FY 2023)

• Founded: 1998

• Headquarters: Houston, Texas

KBR Inc. is a Houston-based company focusing on and operating in the fields of engineering, science, and technology. Established in 1998, KBR is a merger between M.W. Kellogg, Halliburton, and Brown & Root, carrying over 100 years of experience and excellence in providing sophisticated engineering solutions to the government and private sectors.

Behind KBR’s success are over 30,000 employees operating in over 30 locations across the globe. These experts are dedicated to serving their clientele with passion, consistency, and excellence through technology-enabled offerings and mission-critical solutions.

What’s next for KBR?

KBR continues to make stellar moves in the industry as it remains a reliable partner for space and mission efforts. On June 29, 2023, McAllie Associates selected KBR as a subcontractor to fulfill the Systems Engineering Advanced Services II (SEAS II) contract.

With a contract value of $300 million, KBR and McAllie Associates will provide guidance, navigation, algorithm/software development, altitude control systems analysis, and mission and instrument systems engineering services that align with NASA’s Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division and other Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate entities.

Through this strategic partnership, KBR will support NASA’s mission to enhance end-to-end development processes for different mission portfolios and improve mission integration at the Goddard Space Flight Center and Wallops Flight Facility.

NorthStar Earth & Space

• Founded: 2015

• Headquarters: Montréal, Canada

NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. is a Canada-based space defense and research company dedicated to protecting and preserving space and Earth through unique intelligence and information platforms, space-based sensors, navigation assistance, enhanced orbit regime coverage, and other class-leading multidomain offerings.

NorthStar transforms how governments and private enterprises face satellite operation challenges, address critical risks, and enforce regulations that establish a secure and safe near-Earth environment for warfare and other defense missions.

What’s next for NorthStar Earth & Space?

Last year, NorthStar Earth & Space partnered with SES, a prime satellite telecommunications company based in Luxembourg, to enhance its Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services to tailor-fit the needs of SES’s satellite operators and fleet missions managers. A seminal development in this strategic partnership happened on June 26, 2023, which covers the significant increase in the precision of resident space object (RSO) tracking systems.

Under the new contract, NorthStar and SES will leverage their complementary expertise to optimize previous SSA services to enhance traditional fleet management efficiency, reducing collision risks, and enabling advantageous safety and effectiveness during missions. Additionally, this collaboration will advance a safer and more sustainable space environment for future space operations.

Kepler Communications

• Founded: 2015

• Headquarters: Toronto, Canada

Kepler Communications is a private telecommunications company specializing in designing, building, deploying, and operating advanced networks of low-Earth orbit satellites. Founded in 2015, the goal of this Canada-based company is to bring seamless and fast Internet connection to space to establish an uninterrupted exchange of intelligence and crucial data IoT devices, and large-scale data backhaul services from space to Earth and vice versa.

Kepler’s mission to reinforce space-to-ground communications systems and orbit structures will provide small business operators in the shipment, research, mining, and oil and gas industries with high-bandwidth transfer capabilities enabling them to deal with bulky amounts of data that other satellites can’t process.

What’s next for Kepler Communications?

One of Kepler Communications’ industry breakthroughs is having successfully raised $92 million in Series C funding to develop Internet-ready optical constellations structures. Since 2016, Kepler has raised over $200 million in equity, with support from leading investors, to complete various satellite communications projects.

With funding led by IA Ventures, Kepler is currently working on an optical data relay network that will complement its existing radio frequency (RF) network. The new network will be using two near-orthogonal planes of relay satellites in Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), with each satellite connected to SDA-compatible inter-satellite configurations.

Brad Gillespie, General Partner at IA Ventures, highlighted that this joint project gives federal agencies and small and large businesses fast, reliable, consistent, and low-cost connectivity between space and Earth. Kepler’s new optical data relay network is estimated to launch between 2024 and Q1 2025 and will benefit next-generation missions to Mars.

Robert Zitz & Associates

• Founded: 2011

• Headquarters: Alexandria, Virginia

Rober Zitz & Associates (RZ&A) LLC is a leader in the fields of thought leadership, transformation management, strategic planning, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, large-scale systems integration, marketing and communications, and government relations.

Since 2011, RZ&A has been seminal to its clients’ business growth and transformation and the success of missions encompassing surveillance, space resilience, geospatial intelligence, and advanced data processing. The company is dedicated to making stellar changes in the government contracting field for present and future customers and organizations.

What’s next for Robert Zitz & Associates?

Among RZ&A’s significant accomplishments happened on May 2, 2023, when President Robert Zitz was appointed as one of the chairpersons of the Space Situational Awareness working group. The group’s first meeting took place on May 22, 2023, at the GEOINT Symposium.

The Space Situational Awareness working group’s prime objective is to establish a consensus within the geospatial intelligence community about how space analytics, ground and space-based sensors, and the information extracted from these sensors will contribute to a better understanding of the space domain.

With Zitz’s leadership and comprehensive professional background in the mix, the working group would forge stronger partnerships with stakeholders to foster a common understanding that aligns with the services and applications of different federal agencies focused on space and mission efforts.