Lockheed Martin Space Systems

Lockheed Martin Space Systems is one of the 4 major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

From a rich history of major companies Lockheed Martin has brought them together to offer design, integration, and production of:

* satellites for commercial and military space
* missile defense systems
* strategic missile systems
* Orion, NASA's space shuttle replacement

History

In October 1956, Lockheed Missiles & Space Division in Sunnyvale, Ca. became prime contractor for elements of Military Satellite System (WS 117L), calling for the development of a strategic satellite system. The core element was Lockheed's Agena spacecraft, the world's first multipurpose spacecraft with boost and maneuvering engines, also acting as the 2nd stage of the launch vehicle and/or carrier vehicle for the reconnaissance system. WS-117L and Agena lead to the development of the Corona satellite -- the nation's first photoreconnaissance satellite system, collecting both intelligence and mapping imagery from August 1960 until May 1972. Over 800,000 images were taken from space, with imaging resolution originally equaling 8 meters, but improved to 2 meters. The program was declassified in February 1995. Approximately 365 Agena spacecrafts supporting a wide variety of missions from NASA's early interplanetary efforts; the US Navy's SeaSat; to the USAF's Corona series were launched between January 1959 and February 1987, when the last Agena D was launched.

The Polaris missile was a submarine-launched, two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed ballistic missile (SLBM) built during the Cold War by Lockheed Missiles & Space Division in Sunnyvale, Ca. for the United States Navy. The Polaris program started development in 1956, with its first flight test in 1958. In 1962, the USS Ethan Allen successfully fired a Polaris A-1 missile against a test target in 1960. The SLBM has evolved through Polaris (A2), Polaris (A3), Poseidon (C3) Trident I (C4) and ongoing with today's Trident II (D5).

Lockheed achieved the first-ever hit-to-kill of an ICBM reentry vehicle in 1984 with the Homing Overlay Experiment, using the Kinetic Kill Vehicle (KKV) force of impact alone to destroy a mock warhead outside of the Earth's atmosphere. The KKV was equipped with an infrared seeker, guidance electronics and a propulsion system. Once in space, the KKV could extend a folded structure similar to an umbrella skeleton of 4 m (13 ft) diameter to enhance its effective cross section. This device would destroy the Minuteman RV with a closing speed of about 20,000 feet per second at an altitude of more than 100 miles. Further testing produced the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System, the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) and the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV).

The Titan I was the first version of the Titan family of rockets. It began as a backup ICBM project in case the Atlas was delayed. It was a two-stage rocket powered by RP-1 and LOX. The Titan I and Atlas ICBMs using RP-1/LOX fuel did not have a quick launch sequence. They took about 30 minutes to fuel up and fire. Most Titan rockets were derivatives of the Titan II ICBM. The Titan II ICBM had one W-53 warhead with a 9 megaton yield, making it the most powerful ICBM on-standby in the US nuclear arsenal. The Titan III was a modified Titan II with optional solid rocket boosters. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force as a heavy-lift satellite launcher to be used mainly to launch U.S. Military payloads such as DSP early-warning, intelligence (spy), and defense communications satellites. The Titan IV is a stretched Titan III with non-optional solid rocket boosters. It could be launched either with the Centaur upper stage, with the IUS (Inertial Upper Stage) or without any upper stage. It was almost exclusively used to launch U.S. Military payloads, though it was also used to launch NASA's Cassini probe to Saturn in 1997.

RCA Astro Electronics, a division of RCA was formed in the late 1950s and went on to become one of the leading manufacturers of satellites and related systems. RCA Astro Electronics was based in East Windsor, New Jersey. When General Electric purchased RCA in 1986 Astro Electronics was renamed GE Astro Space. This was sold to Martin Marietta in 1993 and became part of Lockheed Martin in 1995 following that company's merger with the Lockheed Corporation.

In 1995 Lockheed Martin announced the closure of the New Jersey facility and the relocation of operations to Sunnyvale, California. The New Jersey facility finished the orders it had and closed in 1998. Commercial space operations have recently moved back to a new facility in Newtown, PA. but final integration and testing of commercial satellites is still performed in Sunnyvale. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is now headquartered in Denver, but still does considerable operations from Sunnyvale. Also located near Sunnyvale is the ATC (Advanced Technology Center), which is located in Palo Alto.

The Sunnyvale facility employs over 8,000 in over 40 buildings.

Corporate Hierarchy

*The current vice president of LMSSC is Joanne Maguire. She was previously the deputy of G. Tom Marsh, who recently retired after 37 years at Lockheed.

Lines of Business

*Strategic and Missile Defense Systems
**ABL Airborne Laser
**THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
**MKV Multiple Kill Vehicle
**FTF Flexible Targets Family, a family of vehicles intended for use as targets in tests of the various missile defense elements
**Lockheed Corp. was responsible for the design and introduction of the Polaris, Poseidon and Trident missiles. Lockheed Martin continues manufacturing responsibility for the current model, the Trident II (D5).
*Commercial Space
**Design and production of commercial geosynchronous telecommunications satellites.
*Surveillance and Navigation Systems
**SBIRS Space-Based Infrared System
**GPS-IIR
*Military Space
**MUOS Mobile User Objective System
**AEHF Advanced Extremely High Frequency
**Milstar
**DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
*Sensing & Exploration Systems (formerly Civil Space)
**NASA’s Orion (spacecraft) crew exploration vehicle
**NASA's Phoenix (spacecraft) Lander
**NASA’s Mars Odyssey
**NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
**NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor
**NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (a former Lockheed project)
**NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (a former Lockheed project)
**NASA's Lunar Prospector (a former Lockheed project)
**NASA's Gravity Probe B (a former Lockheed project)
**NASA's Landsat 7 (a former Lockheed project)
**NASA's IMAGE (a former Lockheed project)
**NOAA's TIROS, or Television Infrared Observation Satellite

External links

* [http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=14699&rsbci=21&fti=0&ti=0&sc=400 Lockheed Martin Space Systems]
* [http://home.att.net/~astrospace/ GE Astro Space Alumni Network]