Construction has started on a new $350 million Lockheed Martin facility that will produce next-generation satellites.
Located on the company’s Waterton Canyon campus near Denver, the new facility is the latest step in an ongoing transformation to provide future missions at reduced cost and cycle time.
The new Gateway Center, due for completion in 2020, includes a state-of-the-art high bay clean room capable of simultaneously building a spectrum of satellites from micro to macro.
The facility’s paperless, digitally-enabled production environment incorporates rapidly-reconfigurable production lines and advanced test capability.
It includes an expansive thermal vacuum chamber to simulate the harsh environment of space, an anechoic chamber for highly perceptive testing of sensors and communications systems, and an advanced test operations and analysis centre.
The Gateway Center will be certified to security standards required to support vital national security missions.
Rick Ambrose, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems said: “This is our factory of the future: agile, efficient and packed with innovations. We’ll be able to build satellites that communicate with front-line troops, explore other planets, and support unique missions.
“You could fit the Space Shuttle in the high bay with room to spare. That kind of size and versatility means we’ll be able to maximize economies of scale, and with all of our test chambers under one roof, we can streamline and speed production.”
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