Kongsberg NanoAvionics opens a new satellite production facility in Vilnius, Lithuania. Photo: NanoAvionics

Kongsberg NanoAvionics recently opened a new manufacturing facility in Vilnius, Lithuania, that the company said will double its satellite production capability. NanoAvionics also aims to hire more than 100 people across its offices this year to grow headcount by 40%. 

NanoAvionics said the production expansion, located next to its headquarters, will help it meet the demands for satellite constellations and larger satellites by commercial, civil, and governmental organizations. The new location will manufacture 6U, 12U, 16U nanosatellite buses and its ESPA-class microsatellite bus range of up to 220 kg in weight, and be a site to foster new products. 

The site was built right next to its headquarters and covers 1,230 square meters. The facility includes mechanical laboratories, thermal vacuum chambers, thermal bake-out chambers to software development and vibration test equipment. The building also houses NanoAvionics’s constellation operations center from which it controls and manages customer satellite operations. 

“Our investment decisions to scale up the business, such as this facility is a result of the continued company growth and customer demand over the last years. It is in line with our goal to become the prime supplier for small satellite constellations,” commented founder and CEO Vytenis Buzas. “Our philosophy is to grow alongside the space market’s maturity and with our customers, and enter new phases in their constellation development by having plans in place that allow us to increase our capacity.”