The Colorado Economic Development Commission extended nearly $20 million in state tax incentives Thursday morning to a global space and defense company looking to create 600 jobs in Broomfield.
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The unnamed company, which applied under the codename Project Mercury, plans to invest $194 million in a new manufacturing facility to produce a constellation of cutting-edge defense satellites.
The most likely candidate is BAE Systems, a British defense company that established a large presence in Broomfield following its acquisition of Ball Aerospace in February 2024.
BAE Systems won a $1.2 billion contract last June from the U.S. Space Systems Command to build a constellation of jamming-resistant satellites able to track hypersonic missiles and communicate an early warning.
The commission approved $11.2 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits, conditioned on the company creating up to 600 jobs at an average annual wage of $89,760 over the next eight years.
It also approved another $8.2 million in state tax credits under the CHIPS or Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act, less than the $15.3 million the company requested.
As a participant in the CHIPS program, the state has agreed to provide up to $15 million each fiscal year in tax credits to eligible companies, which allows them to receive additional federal credits.
It has also broadened the definition of who can receive assistance beyond semiconductor manufacturers.
After strong demand, Colorado only has $2.6 million left for this fiscal year and has already earmarked its entire 2027 allocation.
It is setting aside $6 million from its fiscal year 2028 tranche, the last one available, for Project Mercury, said Dan Salvetti, the semiconductor industry manager with the Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
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OEDIT has designated the project as having “high strategic importance,” which removes the requirement that a project receiving state incentives pay wages at or above the countywide average.
Project Mercury will only pay 79% of the average annual wages in Broomfield County, which leads the state for how much its residents earn.
Technicians, manufacturing engineers, production supervisors, manufacturing planners, machinists and supply chain planners are among the new positions.
OEDIT said the company behind Project Mercury has more than 100,000 workers, with nearly 5,000 in Colorado. That aligns precisely with BAE Systems and its Space & Mission Systems business in Broomfield.
BAE has agreed to provide the U.S. Space Force with 10 advanced satellites to track high-speed ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles, along with a ground control system.
Project Mercury will focus on developing radio frequency payloads and the 10A platforms, according to OEDIT staff. That terminology aligns with the Configurable Space Platform 10A that Ball Aerospace had already developed.
Ball Aerospace was also working on advanced radio frequency technologies, the kind that allow a satellite to resist jamming attempts as it communicates missile data back to interception systems on the ground.
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have highlighted the difficulties militaries have in tracking and neutralizing increasingly fast missiles.
BAE faces a tight 2029 deadline to develop the system, which indicates a Broomfield plant could come online fairly quickly.
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Locations in Ohio and Texas are also in the running to receive the plant.
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