Redwire charges ahead on Huntsville expansion
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The company's drones have been active in Ukraine since 2022. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Redwire officially broke ground on its new Huntsville headquarters Tuesday, as the building starts to take shape.
Why it matters: It's the latest surge of momentum for Huntsville's booming aerospace and defense manufacturing ecosystem.
Catch up quick: Redwire, a defense and space tech manufacturer, announced the expansion from the recent Farnborough International Airshow outside London.
- The expansion of Redwire, in Huntsville since 2023, is set to bring 150 jobs and a 164,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to the Port of Huntsville's Jetplex Industrial Park.
Zoom in: Josh Brungardt, co-president of Redwire Defense, told Axios that construction should wrap up around the end of the year, with the first products rolling off the line in the first quarter of next year.
- Mike Gold, Redwire's president of space and a former NASA associate administrator for space policy and partnerships, said it could mean hundreds more jobs in the future.
What they're saying: The facility "gives us greater capacity to move with agility and rapidly respond to an ever-growing need," Brungardt said.
- He added that since 2022, its drone systems have been in Ukraine, with whom Redwire has been working directly with to refine systems and technology.
Driving the news: Gold was bullish on the Huntsville business ecosystem and the demand for the space tech Redwire makes, especially solar arrays, which he said "are uniquely capable of dealing with the lunar environment."
- The location is a chance to be close to Redwire's key customers, like Blue Origin, he told Axios, and to Marshall Space Flight Center, as Redwire continues to research and test 3D printing in orbit.
Case in point: Redwire's BioFabrication Facility has successfully printed meniscuses and cardiovascular tissue on the International Space Station, and is currently building the first commercial greenhouse in space, Gold said.
- Redwire has also recently partnered with Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb with a focus on pharmaceutical manufacturing in space.
What we're watching: It sounds like there are some more announcements on the horizon, per Glenn Chudacoff, managing director of Twenty Lakes Holdings and Smith Development, which worked with Redwire to develop the property.
- He said another million square feet of industrial space is in the works as his firm works to secure a site near Huntsville International Airport, and expands another site at Greenbrier with four additional buildings.