5 January 2026 year, the American company L3Harris Technologies said, what will sell 60% of a controlling stake in the specialized portfolio of its space and propulsion technology business to the private investment firm AE Industrial Partners. The move is part of L3Harris' multi-year strategic reorientation to increase focus on national security and priority defense architectures, simultaneously abandoning commercial and civilian space directions.
Assets, shares intended for sale, include several critical infrastructure components of the US space programs:
- RL-10 engines (highly efficient cryogenic engine of the upper stage, which is currently used by United Launch Alliance (ULA) for Vulcan and Atlas V rockets);
- space propulsion (systems for maintaining the station of satellites, orbital maneuvering and orientation control in an increasingly competitive environment);
- technologies for research (developing nuclear power solutions for future applications on the Moon and Mars);
- electronics for startups (advanced electronic systems, supporting ground and flight operations for various space vehicles).
Simultaneously, L3Harris will retain 100% ownership of the RS-25 rocket engine program - the main propulsion system for NASA's Space Launch System, which is used in the Artemis lunar missions.
By alienating a controlling stake in these assets, the company aims to reduce reliance on low-margin civilian space contracts and reinvest capital into the Golden Dome initiative. "Golden Dome" is a multi-layered space architecture of anti-missile defense, designed to track and intercept hypersonic and ballistic threats. L3Harris is already positioning itself as the prime contractor for this program, recently delivering hypersonic ballistic threat tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency.
Кошти від продажу також планується спрямувати на скорочення боргу та розширення виробничих потужностей для твердопаливних ракетних двигунів і боєприпасів.
For AE Industrial Partners, this deal strengthens its position as a key consolidator
in the aerospace and defense sectors. The firm's current space portfolio includes York Space Systems, Redwire та Firefly Aerospace (private companies in the field of space, who are working on innovations to expand access to space, focusing on light launch vehicles, satellite technologies and infrastructure for space, in order to reduce the cost of launches
and providing greater flexibility compared to state agencies). By purchasing the control package of L3Harris, AE Industrial to gain critical foothold in launch supply chain amid record demand for satellite deployments.
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