Boeing is looking to step up its presence in the small satellite market by acquiring Millenium Space Systems, a developer and manufacturer of satellites for military applications.

Milennium’s AQUILA small satellite is used by the US Air Force for classified projects.  It also produces the ALTAIR Pathfinder spacecraft, currently actively working a mission in space, which is is able to be deployed quickly and at low-cost.

"Millennium Space Systems' expertise in vertically-integrated small-satellite solutions perfectly complements Boeing's existing satellite portfolio, and will allow us to meet the needs of a diverse customer set," said Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "We look forward to incorporating Millennium Space Systems' end-to-end mission solution capabilities into our service offerings in satellite operations and data solutions."

As technologies improve and launch costs come down, deploying small satellites is becoming more and more cost effective for a wide ranges of uses cases.  Millennium should allow Boeing, which typically builds and deploys much larger satellites, to capitalise on this trend and boost its space business.