The Denver Business Journal says the factory later this year will start making 42 of the washing machine-sized satellites. Those satellites are slated to be launched in 2024.

Lockheed Martin Space has opened a new factory at its headquarters campus in Jefferson County in preparation for making hundreds of orbiters for the U.S. military. Lockheed Martin Space is under contract to produce for the Space Development Agency. The Pentagon formed the Space Development Agency to pioneer rapid procurement of small-satellite fleets for the military.

The company retrofitted part of an existing building to establish a 20,000-square-foot small-satellite production facility able to churn out 180 satellites or more annually. The factory will be able to churn out both military and private-sector orbiters.