CesiumAstro CEO Shey Sabripour. Photo: CesiumAstro

Space and defense technology provider CesiumAstro has secured $200 million in financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to expand its manufacturing capability in Texas. 

The financing package announced Jan. 15 includes a $185 million EXIM-authorized debt facility, and a $15 million revolving credit facility from J.P. Morgan. It was approved under the EXIM’s Make More in America Initiative (MMIA), aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturing and securing supply chains. This is the largest instance of financing under this initiative. 

CesiumAstro plans to acquire a 270,000-square-foot facility in West Austin for manufacturing for space and defense communications. CesiumAstro develops systems including multi-beam active phased array payload, as well as components including a software-defined radio. It is a supplier to Rocket Lab on its Space Development Agency contract. 

CesiumAstro also plans to more than double its Texas workforce by 2030 with plans to add more than 500 high-skill jobs. 

“As a non-traditional defense contractor, we’re scaling domestic production at unprecedented speed, creating high-quality American jobs and proving that commercial innovation can deliver at national scale,” CesiumAstro CEO Shey Sabripour commented. “Scaling our U.S. operations is essential to ensuring America retains trusted, domestic manufacturing capacity as we build the space communications infrastructure required for an increasingly contested and connected world.”