Vertically integrated satellite developer EnduroSat announced on August 6, 2026, that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bulgarian government to turn a former air base in Dobroslavtsi, approximately 15 kilometers north of the country’s capital, Sofia, into a major space and defense research and development center and production site.
The new site will support the expansion of the Bulgarian startup, which, since its foundation in 2015, has moved from making CubeSats, the smallest category of commercial satellites, to the development of ever larger satellites.
The Bulgarian firm already operates a 17,500 square meter facility in Sofia where it has capacity to build up to two ESPA-class satellites per day. ESPA stands for “Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter”, essentially a category of mid-sized satellites which are small enough to fit in launch vehicles as secondary payload.
The projected new facility, however, will make it possible for EnduroSat to produce much larger satellites. In this regard, EnduroSat’s next generation of satellites will be in the one-to-three-ton range and have solar arrays approaching that of a Boeing 737’s wingspan.
The Dobroslavtsi air base, which has been unused for more than 25 years, spans a surface of 290 hectares (three million square meters) and, in addition to the production facilities, it will also be able to host other related activities. This includes a campus for the Space Engineering & Technology program developed by Sofia University and the Bulgarian Air Force and Naval Academies.
There has been no official confirmation of the exact amount EnduroSat aims to invest in its new complex, although some Bulgarian news outlets have floated the figure of US$100 million.
EnduroSat is channeling this project through an investment vehicle called “Starbase Europe”. The choice of name, which echoes Elon Musk’s launch range in Texas, is indicative of the young company’s ambition to build one of Europe’s largest space technology hubs.
AeroTime has contacted EnduroSat for further comment.