Meet the private space company building satellites-cheaper, faster, and better-in an old San Francisco shipyard

"For decades, the Union Iron Works built ships-such as the U.S. Navy's U.S.S. Oregon (1893) and U.S.S. Wisconsin (1898)-in its plant on Pier 70 in the neighborhood now known as Dogpatch. In recent years, that sprawling, long-abandoned complex has been rehabbed and filled with office space, housing, retail, and art studios. Among its tenants are startup accelerator Y Combinator and HR platform Gusto, neither of which has much in common with the Union Iron Works."

"The company is returning Pier 70 to its roots by applying human labor to turn raw materials into finished products. The products in question happen to be high-orbit satellites. Astranis has sent five of them into space, is currently building five more, and intends to scale up its capacity to manufacture 24 at a time. Now, by the standards of consumer electronics, cranking out 24 of something may not sound like a feat."

"Astranis's breakthrough isn't just about speed of production. Its MicroGEO satellites are remarkably compact-about the size of a commercial washing machine, downsized from typical school bus-sized units. They are designed to be affordable, in an industry where cost overruns in the billions have been common. Rather than relying on analog technology, they use software-defined radios, which make customization and updates far more practical."

San Francisco's Pier 70, once home to Union Iron Works shipbuilding, was rehabilitated into offices, housing, retail, and studios. Astranis returned manufacturing to Pier 70 to build high-orbit satellites using human labor. The company has launched five satellites, is building five more, and plans to scale production to 24 concurrently. MicroGEO satellites are compact—about the size of a commercial washing machine—in contrast to traditional bus-sized geostationary satellites. The design emphasizes affordability and uses software-defined radios for easier customization and updates. Production at this scale represents an unprecedented approach for geostationary and high-orbit satellites.

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