Lockheed Martin Submits Space Fence Radar Proposal To U.S. Air
Force To Detect And Track Orbital Objects
MOORESTOWN, N.J., Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed
Martin (NYSE: LMT) has submitted its final contract proposal to
build Space Fence, an advanced ground-based radar system that will
improve the way the U.S. Air Force identifies and tracks orbital
objects.
Space Fence will provide much-needed enhanced space situational
awareness capabilities for the Air Force and allow the service to
decommission the aging U.S.-based Air Force Space Surveillance
System, originally installed in 1961.
"The original surveillance system wasn't designed to detect and
track the hundreds of thousands of smaller, orbiting objects that
are in space today, potentially threatening the International Space
Station, future manned space flight missions and our nation's
critical satellite assets," said Steve
Bruce, vice president for space surveillance systems at
Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Sensors business. "With
decades of experience developing powerful S-band radar systems,
Lockheed Martin has proposed a scalable and affordable Space Fence
solution for the Air Force that will transform space situational
awareness."
The Air Force plans to begin construction at its first Space
Fence site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the fall of 2013 to meet
the program's 2017 initial operational capability goal. The
contract value is estimated at $1.9
billion over a seven-year period of performance.
Using powerful, new ground-based S-band radar technology, Space
Fence will enhance the way the U.S. detects, tracks, measures and
catalogs orbiting objects and space debris with improved accuracy,
better timeliness and increased surveillance coverage. Earlier this
year, Lockheed Martin demonstrated its prototype Space Fence radar
proving it could already detect resident space objects.
With more than 400 operational S-band arrays deployed worldwide,
Lockheed Martin is a leader in S-band radar development,
production, operation and sustainment. The Lockheed Martin-led
team – which includes General Dynamics, AMEC and AT&T – has
decades of collective experience in space-related programs,
including sensors, mission processing, cataloging, orbital
mechanics, net-centric communications and facilities.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md.,
Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that
employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged
in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.
For additional information, visit
our website:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/radar
SOURCE Lockheed Martin