Satellite manufacturer Astranis has announced a $468 million credit agreement with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to support advanced manufacturing jobs domestically and onshore satellite-building infrastructure.

Added to the company’s total funding, the credit agreement adds up to $1.66 billion.

“Astranis is delivering mission-critical infrastructure to customers around the world at unprecedented speed and scale,” John Jovanovic, chairman of the US government-backed EXIM, said. “We are confident this is just the beginning. Under President Trump’s leadership, EXIM will continue to help the United States stay ahead of the curve in developing the industries of the future and boost American competitiveness around the globe.”

Astranis works from its 153,000 sq ft (14,214 sqm) Northern California headquarters, where it is responsible for more than $1.2bn in commercial contracts. Five geostationary (GEO) craft built at the facility are in orbit today.

The transaction was arranged and structured by J.P. Morgan’s Securitized Products Group.

EXIM is coordinating with NASA and the Office of Strategic Space Finance (OSSF) to expand sovereign access to space technologies, stating it “aligns, attracts, and scales private capital investment into supply chains essential to maintaining US preeminence in aeronautics and space exploration.”

As part of a Series E funding round this May, Astranis secured $450m in new capital funding in equity and debt, including a $300m Series E co-led by Snowpoint Ventures and Franklin Templeton, and a $155m delayed-draw credit facility by Trinity Capital.

Astranis highlights customers around the world, including Bangkok, Thailand-based Gulf Space Technology, Taipei, Taiwan-based Chunghwa Telecom, Muscat, Oman-based MB LLC, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Saudi Telecom Company (stc group). Many of these customers seek to serve government contracts by providing GEO services.

Stc drew attention to “advancing digital infrastructure in the nation,” and MB LLC referred to “high-performance infrastructure … empowering our government,” as Chunghwa Telecom heralded “digital infrastructure for Taiwan.”

Astranis is a key player in the move to smaller geostationary satellites, responsible for the MicroGEO project, which is sometimes referenced synonymously with the entire industry trend. In September, Astranis signed a new capacity deal with stc for an undisclosed sum to deploy a dedicated MicroGEO satellite to serve Saudi Arabia as part of Astranis’ Block 3, set to launch in 2027.

For years, the satcoms industry has overseen a decline in commercial interest for GEO, with many leading operators chasing new revenues in low Earth orbit (LEO) services, though experts have long insisted that some capabilities will require GEO orbits. EXIM’s move to subsidise the provision of competitive GEO products, many of which serve infrastructure demands, when it could have chosen any number of manufacturing-heavy LEO or rocket projects, suggests a recognition of the geopolitical significance of the orbit, which trumps revenue.