FARNBOROUGH, England,
July 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The UK
Space Agency has selected Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to help
implement its vision for the UK Spaceflight Programme, an
innovative initiative to create a world-leading commercial launch
market that grows the UK economy through regular, reliable and
responsible access to space.
"The countdown to the first orbital rocket launch from UK soil
has officially begun," said Patrick
Wood, Lockheed Martin's UK Country Executive for Space. "The
UK Government has stated its desire to grow the UK's space sector
to ten percent of the global space economy by 2030. We are proud to
be selected to help them achieve this goal. This initiative will
not only spark advancements in science and innovation, it will
create new opportunities for current and future UK-based suppliers
to become part of the next space age."
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With a recent grant from the UK Space Agency, Lockheed Martin is
leading a team to execute several strategic projects to support the
UK Spaceflight Programme, with a goal of providing the first
vertical space launch in the early 2020s.
- The UK's First Space Port: The team will support the
development of the nation's first commercial spaceport at the
Sutherland site in Melness, Scotland. The site aims to be the UK's first
vertical orbital rocket launch site. Overall site development is
being led by Scottish government economic and
community development agency Highlands & Islands
Enterprise, with Lockheed Martin providing strategic support and
guidance.
- Innovative CubeSat Delivery Vehicle: Once it reaches orbit, the
first rocket launched will release a Small Launch Orbital
Manoeuvring Vehicle (SL-OMV), built specifically by Moog in the UK
for the UK Spaceflight Programme. This agile platform will carry up
to six 6U CubeSats, such as Lockheed Martin's LM 50 platform, which
the vehicle can deploy at the most optimal times and positions for
their respective missions. The team is currently taking requests
from potential customers to fill its CubeSat manifest for this
first launch.
- Advanced 6U CubeSat Pathfinder: As part of the programme,
Lockheed Martin teammate Orbital Micro Systems will create and fly
a UK-built pathfinder test to validate the performance of the
SL-OMV and ground system. The pathfinder will help lay the ground
work for planned satellite constellations that are designed to
deliver low latency weather observation to commercial and
government customers.
"This historic 'pathfinder' launch for the UK will also
demonstrate the tremendous potential small satellites and CubeSats
have across a wide range of commercial and government data
collection applications," said Wood. "We believe, as the UK Space
Agency does, that this effort will help bring the UK to the
forefront of the rapidly-growing, global small satellite market and
support the UK's maturing space supply chain."
Lockheed Martin brings significant space experience to the UK's
Spaceflight Programme, from ground systems, to launch vehicles, to
on-orbit missions. The company's LM 50 CubeSat platform is an
innovative and powerful platform that can be customized to a wide
array of missions and payloads. It's one of four modernized
satellite platforms Lockheed Martin offers its customers, including
the LM 400 small satellite, LM 1000 remote sensing bus, and the
flagship LM 2100 geostationary bus.
Lockheed Martin's team includes: Moog, Orbital Micro Systems,
the University of Leicester,
Surrey Satellite Technology, Satellite Applications Catapult,
SCISYS, Lena Space, Reaction Engines
and Netherlands Space Office.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
This year the company received three Edison Awards for
ground-breaking innovations in autonomy, satellite technology and
directed energy.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin