Lockheed Martin, traditionally renowned for its prowess in GPS and large geostationary (GEO) satellites, is now making waves in the small satellite market. The aerospace giant has quietly amassed a backlog of 100 small satellites ordered by the Department of Defense and intelligence clients.
Johnathon Caldwell, head of Lockheed Martin's military space business, highlighted this surprising development at a recent military conference in Aurora, Colorado. He emphasized that the company's shift towards small satellites gained momentum through its pursuit of contracts from the Space Development Agency (SDA). The SDA is constructing a network of satellites in low Earth orbit for the Defense Department, requiring fixed-price bids—a departure from traditional cost-plus defense programs.
To support this burgeoning business, Lockheed Martin inaugurated a new small satellite assembly facility near Denver, Colorado, capable of producing 180 spacecraft annually. Most of these smallsats utilize buses from Terran Orbital.
Caldwell underscored the need for the smallsat division to function with a startup mentality. Leveraging the new production capabilities, the company is financing its own space missions to showcase technologies it anticipates the government will be interested in procuring.
In 2022, Lockheed Martin launched a satellite-servicing demonstration mission and, more recently, an antenna experiment that unfortunately ended up in an incorrect orbit. The next venture, named Pony Express 2, is slated to launch on SpaceX's Transporter 10 smallsat rideshare. Two Terran Orbital Renegade-class cubesats will endeavor to create a Ka-band mesh network in space.
Caldwell emphasized that these missions will showcase several innovative technologies, including open standards mesh networking and autonomous satellite tasking, which Lockheed Martin has been developing through its venture fund. Military units will be able to utilize these satellites in wargames and exercises, demonstrating the company's commitment to advancing military space capabilities.
Photo: Lockheed Martin