Spacecraft ready for launch as early as March 15
The latest self-funded technology demonstration from Lockheed Martin is ready to launch no earlier than March 15.
In the weeks ahead, the LM 400 technology demonstration is planned to launch on a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket, which successfully passed its static fire test today. The technology demonstration arrived in California on March 1, and is now undergoing pre-launch payload processing at Astrotech Space Operations.
The satellite was specifically designed to showcase the investment in risk-reduction efforts and pathfinding Lockheed Martin has done for its mid-sized, LM 400 multi-mission satellite bus, and to demonstrate the spacecraft’s operational capabilities on orbit for customers.
This launch will also be providing a valuable training opportunity for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Safari Responsive Space program and the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) construct.
„As the need for greater resiliency and proliferated architectures grow, we’ve made a critical investment in this LM 400 technology demonstration to design and illustrate timely and relevant capabilities on-orbit for our customers,“ explained Jeff Schrader, vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Space. „We look forward to our ride with Firefly, and ultimately enhancing the technical and manufacturing readiness of the multi-orbit, multi-mission LM 400 platform.“
As a platform, Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 is the company’s most flexible satellite bus, capable of carrying out military, commercial or civil customers‘ missions. It can be customized to host a variety of missions and high-power payloads – including remote sensing, communications, imaging and radar – and operates in any orbit. The LM 400 is already under contract.
