DENVER, March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin
(NYSE: LMT) announced a new generation of space technology
launching this year that will allow satellites to change their
missions in orbit. Satellites that launched one, ten or even
fifteen years ago largely have the same capability they had when
they lifted off. That's changing with new architecture that will
let users add capability and assign new missions with a software
push, just like adding an app on a smartphone. This new tech,
called SmartSat, is a software-defined satellite architecture that
will boost capability for payloads on several pioneering nanosats
ready for launch this year.
"Imagine a new type of satellite that acts more like a
smartphone. Add a SmartSat app to your satellite in-orbit, and
you've changed the mission," said Rick
Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space.
"We are the first to deploy this groundbreaking technology on
multiple missions. SmartSat will give our customers unparalleled
resiliency and flexibility for changing mission needs and
technology, and it unlocks even greater processing power in
space."
This year Lockheed Martin is integrating SmartSat technology on
ten programs and counting, including the Linus and Pony Express
nanosats, which will be the first to launch. These are
rapid-prototype, testbed satellites using internal research and
development funding, ready for 2019 launches on the first LM 50
nanosatellite buses:
- The Linus project delivers two 12U cubesats performing a
technology demonstration mission, validating SmartSat capabilities
as well as 3D-printed spacecraft components.
- Pony Express builds multiple 6U satellites destined for a low
earth orbit and will space qualify state-of-the-art networking
technologies. Pony Express 1 is a pathfinder for a software-defined
payload that will test cloud computing infrastructure and was
developed in nine months. Follow-on Pony Express missions will
prove out RF-enabled swarming formations and space-to-space
networking.
"SmartSat is a major step forward in our journey to completely
transform the way we design, build and deliver satellites," said
Ambrose. "The LM 50 bus is the perfect platform for testing this
new, groundbreaking technology. We're self-funding these missions
to demonstrate a number of new capabilities that can plug into any
satellite in our fleet, from the LM 50 nanosat to our flagship LM
2100. And the same technology not only plugs into ground stations,
improving space-ground integration, it will one day connect
directly with planes, ships and ground vehicles, connecting
front-line users to the power of space like never before."
Cyber security is at the core of this new technology.
SmartSat-enabled satellites can reset themselves faster, diagnose
issues with greater precision and back each other up when needed,
significantly enhancing resiliency. Satellites can also better
detect and defend against cyber threats autonomously, and on-board
cyber defenses can be updated regularly to address new threats.
SmartSat uses a hypervisor to securely containerize virtual
machines. It's a technology that lets a single computer operate
multiple servers virtually to maximize memory, on-board processing
and network bandwidth. It takes advantage of multi-core processing,
something new to space. That lets satellites process more data in
orbit so they can beam down just the most critical and relevant
information—saving bandwidth costs and reducing the burden on
ground station analysts, and ultimately opening the door for
tomorrow's data centers in space.
SmartSat uses a high-power, radiation-hardened computer
developed by the National Science Foundation's Center for Space,
High-performance, and Resilient Computing, or SHREC. Lockheed
Martin helps fund SHREC research, and in turn gains access to
world-class technologies and student researchers.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace
company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is
principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology
systems, products and services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin