Short answer
Colorado had 37 aerospace product and parts manufacturing establishments in 2023, employing 8,550 people on a high-noise payroll of about $1.18 billion (Census County Business Patterns), 15th among states. The state's economic development office counts far more, over 2,000 aerospace businesses, because it includes space operations, engineering and services. Named anchors include Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace), United Launch Alliance and Sierra Space; York Space Systems and Voyager are listed and headquartered there.
- 37 aerospace manufacturing establishments and 8,550 employees in 2023; average pay about $137,602, from a high-noise payroll figure.
- One establishment has 500 or more employees, and it holds at least 61% of the state's aerospace manufacturing jobs.
- 11 of the 37 establishments make missiles, space vehicles or their propulsion and parts.
- Federal contracts coded to aerospace manufacturing and performed in Colorado totaled $2.75 billion in fiscal 2025.
- York Space Systems ($386.2 million revenue) and Voyager Technologies ($166.4 million) are the listed aerospace companies headquartered in Colorado.
On this page
- Colorado aerospace in Census data
- Why the counts disagree: 37, 1,100 or 2,000?
- Space and missiles, not airframes
- One large site, many small shops
- Where they are
- The names behind the numbers
- Federal contracts performed in Colorado
- Selling to Colorado aerospace companies
- Sources for building a list
- Sources
- Questions people ask
This report is for people sizing up Colorado's aerospace industry: engineers and job seekers, buyers looking for a supplier or test partner, and B2B sellers whose customers build spacecraft, satellites and aircraft parts on the Front Range.
Colorado aerospace in Census data
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 3364 (Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing), State of Colorado:
| Measure (2023) | Colorado |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 37 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 8,550 |
| Annual payroll | $1,176,496,000 (high-noise figure) |
| Average employees per establishment | 231.1 |
| Average annual pay | $137,602 (from the high-noise payroll) |
| Share of US establishments | 1.95% of 1,901 |
| Rank among states by establishments | 15th |
The Census Bureau flagged this payroll as high-noise: the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed it by 5% or more. The employee count carries a lower noise flag, so treat the payroll and average pay as approximate.
CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, and leaves out the self-employed. NAICS 3364 covers aircraft, engines, aircraft parts, guided missiles, space vehicles and their propulsion units and parts.
Why the counts disagree: 37, 1,100 or 2,000?
Search for this topic and you'll see three very different numbers. They measure different things:
| Source | Count | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Census CBP 2023 | 37 establishments, 8,550 employees | Locations whose main activity is making aerospace products |
| Colorado OEDIT, 2022 key facts | 1,100 companies, 29,000+ employees | The state's aerospace industry definition |
| Colorado OEDIT, page text (undated) | 2,000+ businesses, 55,000+ direct jobs | A wider cluster, with 184,000 indirect jobs |
The Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) doesn't reconcile its two figures, and neither is built on the same codes as the Census count. The gap is real economics, not error: satellite operators, ground systems software, engineering firms and test labs are classed in services, so a mission-control contractor in Colorado Springs never shows up in NAICS 3364. OEDIT also says more than 60% of its 1,100 companies have 10 or fewer employees. Use the Census figure for the manufacturing base and the state figures for the size of the opportunity around it.
Space and missiles, not airframes
The six-digit codes show what Colorado's 37 establishments make:
| Industry (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Other aircraft parts and equipment (336413) | 12 | 709 |
| Aircraft manufacturing (336411) | 9 | Not reported (high-noise) |
| Aircraft engines and engine parts (336412) | 5 | 85 |
| Space vehicle propulsion units and parts (336415) | 4 | 820 |
| Other missile and space vehicle parts (336419) | 4 | Not reported (high-noise) |
| Guided missiles and space vehicles (336414) | 3 | Not reported (high-noise) |
"Not reported (high-noise)" means the Census Bureau published the figure but flagged that the noise it adds to protect confidentiality moved it by 5% or more, so we leave it out. Six of the nine aircraft establishments have one to four employees: think kit builders and small developers, not airliner plants. By subtraction, about 6,900 jobs sit in the three codes with high-noise figures, which include the three space vehicle manufacturing sites.
One large site, many small shops
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 11 |
| 5 to 9 | 5 |
| 10 to 19 | 5 |
| 20 to 49 | 3 |
| 50 to 99 | 5 |
| 100 to 249 | 4 |
| 250 to 499 | 3 |
| 500 or more | 1 (the 500 to 999 and 1,000 or more cells aren't published) |
In broad bands, 21 establishments have 1 to 19 employees, 8 have 20 to 99 and 8 have 100 or more (the last is the total less the smaller bands). Even if every site under 500 employees sat at the top of its size class, together they would employ 3,319 people, so at least 5,231 jobs (61%) are at the single establishment with 500 or more.
Where they are
| Area (CBP 2023) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro | 17 | Not reported (high-noise) |
| Boulder metro | 7 | 1,171 |
| Colorado Springs metro | 5 | 250 |
| Montrose micro area | 3 | 68 |
The other five establishments are elsewhere in the state. For the Denver metro's county split, see the report on aerospace companies in Denver.
The names behind the numbers
OEDIT lists Colorado's major aerospace employers as Ball Aerospace (now BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems) in Boulder, Lockheed Martin Space in Colorado Springs and Littleton, Northrop Grumman in Boulder and Colorado Springs, United Launch Alliance in Centennial, Sierra Space in Centennial, Louisville, Englewood and Colorado Springs, and Voyager in Denver. The companies' own filings agree: Lockheed Martin's 2025 10-K lists Denver among its Space segment's significant operations, and Northrop Grumman's lists Aurora, Boulder and Colorado Springs for Space Systems.
Two listed aerospace companies have their headquarters in Colorado, each confirmed on its latest 10-K cover:
| Company (ticker) | Headquarters | FY2025 revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| York Space Systems (YSS) | Greenwood Village | $386.2 million | 710 full-time (31 Dec 2025) |
| Voyager Technologies (VOYG) | Denver | $166.4 million | About 800 (31 Dec 2025) |
York reported $372.8 million of its revenue from government customers, about 97%. The demand side is military: OEDIT says Colorado hosts half of the US Space Force, US Space Command, NORAD and three of the six Space Force bases.
Federal contracts performed in Colorado
USAspending shows $2.75 billion of federal contract obligations in fiscal 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025) coded to aerospace manufacturing (NAICS 3364) with Colorado as the place of performance, 12th among states. The Department of Defense obligated $2.31 billion of it and NASA $385.7 million.
| Recipient (as named in the federal record) | FY2025 obligations |
|---|---|
| Sierra Nevada Company | $1,420.5 million |
| Lockheed Martin | $1,181.4 million |
| BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems | $89.9 million |
| Pilatus Aircraft USA | $26.1 million |
| Ophir Corporation | $8.2 million |
| University of Colorado | $6.4 million |
| Blue Canyon Technologies | $6.0 million |
Treat these as signals, not totals: obligations land where the contract says the work is done, subcontracts aren't counted, and services contracts on the same programs use other codes.
Selling to Colorado aerospace companies
| Account type | Who usually decides | What they buy |
|---|---|---|
| Primes and large space sites | Commodity buyers, program supply chain leads, site facilities and EHS | Test services, cleanroom and facility work, specialty materials, engineering staff |
| Listed and venture-backed spacecraft makers | VP of operations, head of supply chain, quality director | Components, ERP and quality systems, export compliance, recruiting |
| Small parts makers and labs (21 under 20 employees) | The owner or general manager | Machining capacity, calibration, insurance, CMMC and ITAR help |
Three checks matter on almost every deal. Under 22 CFR 122.1, a US manufacturer of defense articles must register with the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls even if it never exports. Phase 2 of the CMMC program starts on 10 November 2026, one year after the DFARS rule took effect, when DoD intends to require third-party Level 2 certification on applicable contracts. And most primes expect AS9100 certification, which you can confirm in the IAQG's OASIS database.
Illustrative example. The seller, its prices and its win rate are invented; the counts are from Census and USAspending data.
Mesa Verde Test Labs (mesaverdetest.example), a 12-person thermal vacuum and vibration lab in Golden, sells qualification testing to spacecraft and component makers. Its core list is the 11 Colorado establishments in the space and missile codes plus the smaller recipients in the federal record, about 20 accounts. At two test campaigns a year from a quarter of them, at $45,000 each, that's 10 campaigns, or $450,000. The work is in timing: York's growth and new Space Force awards create test demand months before delivery, so Mesa Verde tracks awards on USAspending and calls the supply chain lead when a program moves to qualification. For a list that small, Bebop helps find the rest: describe "satellite component makers in Boulder and Jefferson counties with an environmental test need" and it explains why each company fits.
Sources for building a list
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Colorado OEDIT aerospace page | The state's industry figures and major employers |
| Colorado Space Coalition | The state's aerospace industry association, run from the Denver Metro Chamber and Metro Denver EDC |
| Colorado Secretary of State business search | Entity status, registered agent and filing history |
| USAspending | Federal awards by recipient and place of performance |
| SAM.gov | Contractor registrations with NAICS codes and CAGE codes |
| IAQG OASIS | AS9100 certificate holders |
For the wider industrial base, see manufacturing companies in Colorado.
Next step: compare Colorado with the national leaders in the largest aerospace companies list.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- County Business Patterns methodology (noise flags), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Aerospace (key industries), Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, accessed 30 October 2026
- Colorado Space Coalition, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, accessed 30 October 2026
- York Space Systems Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 20 March 2026
- Voyager Technologies, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 10 March 2026
- Lockheed Martin Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (Item 2, Properties), US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 29 January 2026
- Northrop Grumman Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (Item 2, Properties), US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 27 January 2026
- Advanced Search: prime contract obligations, FY2025, NAICS 3364, place of performance Colorado, USAspending.gov, US Department of the Treasury, accessed 30 October 2026
- 22 CFR 122.1, Registration: requirements, exemptions, and purpose, US Government Publishing Office (govinfo), 1 April 2025 edition
- 32 CFR 170.3, CMMC Program applicability and implementation phases, US Government Publishing Office (govinfo), 1 July 2025 edition
- DFARS: Assessing Contractor Implementation of Cybersecurity Requirements (final rule), Federal Register, via govinfo, 10 September 2025
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many aerospace companies are in Colorado?
It depends on the definition. Census County Business Patterns counted 37 aerospace manufacturing establishments in Colorado in 2023, employing 8,550 people. Colorado's economic development office counts 1,100 aerospace companies in its 2022 key facts and over 2,000 aerospace businesses in its wider cluster, because it includes space operations, software, engineering and services that federal data classes outside manufacturing.
What are the biggest aerospace companies in Colorado?
Colorado's economic development office lists BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace), Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance, Sierra Space and Voyager as major aerospace employers. In federal contract data for fiscal 2025, Sierra Nevada Company and Lockheed Martin had the largest aerospace manufacturing obligations performed in the state, at $1.42 billion and $1.18 billion.
Which public aerospace companies are headquartered in Colorado?
York Space Systems in Greenwood Village and Voyager Technologies in Denver, both listed on the NYSE. York reported $386.2 million of revenue for 2025 with 710 full-time employees, and Voyager reported $166.4 million of net sales with about 800 employees, according to their 10-K filings. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman run large Colorado space operations but are headquartered in Maryland and Virginia.
Why are so many space companies in Colorado?
Military demand is the main reason. Colorado's economic development office says the state hosts half of the US Space Force, US Space Command, NORAD and three of the six Space Force bases, plus the Air Force Academy. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems run large space operations there, and a supplier base of small component makers and test labs has grown around them.
How much do aerospace manufacturing jobs in Colorado pay?
Colorado's aerospace manufacturing establishments paid about $1.18 billion in 2023 to 8,550 employees, an average of about $137,602 per employee, according to Census County Business Patterns, which flags the payroll as high-noise. That's higher than in Dallas-Fort Worth or Seattle and reflects the engineering-heavy space work. The average blends engineers, technicians and assemblers and uses employment in the week of March 12.