Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) announced Wednesday it has opened a 65,000-square-foot Engineering Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Research Park in Daytona Beach, Florida. The facility will focus on engineering design, R&D, and prototyping for Defense, Space & Security Air Dominance programs and advanced technologies.
The new center is expected to bring around 400 well-paying jobs to Daytona Beach and Volusia County as Boeing ramps up hiring. “We are delighted to welcome Boeing to our community, where their commitment to advancing aerospace technology strengthens our position at the top of the space triangle,” said Mori Hosseini, chairman of Embry-Riddle’s board of trustees.
Boeing also announced a $100,000 investment to support new STEM programming for the Boys & Girls Club of Volusia/Flagler counties and food initiatives through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, highlighting the company’s local economic and educational commitments.
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Boeing Advances 3D-Printed Solar Arrays for Satellites
Separately, Boeing introduced a 3D-printed solar array substrate on Wednesday that can compress composite build times by up to six months, a production improvement of as much as 50% compared with current cycle times.
The company’s approach integrates harness paths and attachment points directly into each panel, eliminating dozens of separate parts and tooling steps. The first arrays will carry Spectrolab solar cells aboard Millennium Space Systems satellites, with scalability to larger 702-class spacecraft targeted for 2026.
Boeing noted that the process enables parallel assembly of panels and solar cells, supported by robotic assembly and automated inspection at its Spectrolab unit. Michelle Parker, vice president of Boeing Space Mission Systems, said, “Power sets the pace of a mission. We reached across our enterprise to introduce efficiencies and novel technologies to set a more rapid pace.”
Boeing has already deployed more than 150,000 3D-printed parts across programs, including over 1,000 radio-frequency components on each Wideband Global SATCOM satellite and fully 3D-printed structures in multiple small-satellite product lines.
Price Action: BA shares are trading lower by 1.00% to $227.22 at last check Wednesday.
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