Lockheed Martin to start to start with demo of new mid-dimensions bus – SpaceNews
The business is not however saying which start company will fly the LM 400 demonstration missions
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin plans to start the initially demonstration mission of its new LM 400 mid-sized satellite bus in 2023, the company introduced Jan. 31
The 1st demonstration bus will kick off a “regular series of self-funded on-orbit LM 400 know-how demonstration missions,” the company stated.
The 2023 mission will carry a Lockheed Martin narrowband communications electronically steered array payload. A second demonstrator projected to fly in 2024 will be a synthetic aperture radar payload.
The demonstration missions are intended to demonstrate the bus’ functionality in low, medium and geostationary orbits. Lockheed Martin will deliver these satellites at a new 3.5 million sq.-foot facility in Denver.
The LM 400 is aimed at the protection marketplace, significantly for remote sensing, communications and persistent surveillance purposes. Raytheon chosen the bus to make missile-tracking satellites for the U.S. Space Drive, the initially of which would launch in 2026.
The dimension of an regular property refrigerator, the LM 400 can be adapted for better energy and much larger payloads and packaged to empower various satellites per launch, explained Matt Mahlman, director of technique and capture at Lockheed Martin House.
“Our target is to accelerate the technological maturity of our satellites and state-of-the-art payloads, as well as showcase how new abilities can be shipped speedily to prospects,” he said.
The enterprise is not nevertheless saying which start service provider will fly these demonstration missions. Lockheed Martin in 2021 signed a deal with ABL Place Programs to launch as many as 58 missions on ABL’s RS1 rocket via 2029. Lockheed Martin is also a strategic investor in ABL.
ABL’s to start with start unsuccessful before this month and it’s unclear when it will make one more attempt.
A Lockheed Martin spokesman told SpaceNews that the company is “fully commited to supporting our start associate ABL and are fired up for their following flight option. With regard to the LM 400 tech demo, we will announce our launch ideas as shortly as we have passed total screening of the method.”