Lockheed Building New Satellites for US Space Force

The U.S. Dept. of Defense placed $4.93-billion contract with Lockheed Martin for three Next Generation Geosynchronous (NGG), Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SV), to be operated by the U.S. Space Force and provide initial warning of a ballistic or tactical missile launch from anywhere in the world. Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, Calif., will manufacture and assemble, integrate, and test the satellites, with delivery set for May 2028.

The contract includes engineering support for launch-vehicle integration and launch-and-early on-orbit checkout for the three new satellites. And, Lockheed will provide ground mission software and ground sensor-processing software as part of an expanded missile-defense system to replace the existing Space Based Infrared System satellites.

Specifically, the Pentagon contract is a modification to a $2.8-billion, 2018 award under which Lockheed developed the NGG satellite.