What does it mean when a company issues options that would not expire until 3 years later?

Typically a company issues options on itself in order to serve as an employee incentive. For a very low cost, they can entice employees to work long hours at below market pay in order to participate in the rise of the company's value. Typically these options expire after ten years, not three.

An exchange may issue options on a security for one reason only: they can sell them.