The Advanced Extremely High Frequency
(AEHF) team of Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles, Sunnyvale, Calif.
and Northrop Grumman Space Technology, Redondo Beach, Calif. has
successfully completed all 49 Preliminary Design Reviews (PDR). Conclusion
of the PDR phase represents a major program milestone demonstrating that the
next-generation satellite system meets all technical performance
requirements for their customer, the MILSATCOM Joint Program Office, U.S.
Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
"The entire team deserves kudos for executing a highly efficient and
successful PDR phase," said Julie Sattler, AEHF program director for
Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles. "Working as integrated product
teams, we have achieved a major milestone in this critical national program,
which will be the most complex, sophisticated military communications
satellite system ever produced. We are now into the critical design review
stage where we validate our detailed design in preparation for the
production phase."
The AEHF program will provide the next generation of global, highly secure,
survivable communications for warfighters in all services of the Department
of Defense. Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles is currently under
contract to provide the first two AEHF satellites and command and control
system. Northrop Grumman Space Technology is the payload provider.
"We have made excellent progress on the payload over the last 18 months and
are on track to complete all engineering model hardware by the end of this
year. This will give us high confidence that our flight hardware will meet
all performance requirements," said Clayton Kau, Northrop Grumman’s vice
president & program manager for the AEHF Payload.
AEHF satellites will provide improved secure data throughput capability and
increased coverage flexibility to regional and global military operations
and will be backward compatible with the Milstar I and II system. The
Mission Control Segment (ground system hardware and software development and
deployment) is being led by Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems of
Valley Forge, Pa. The Mission Control Segment will consolidate Milstar and
Advanced EHF satellite control and communication resource planning into a
single, modernized Mission Control System.
Space & Strategic Missiles is part of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company,
headquartered in Denver, Colo., one of the major operating units of Lockheed
Martin Corporation. Space Systems designs, develops, tests, manufactures and
operates a variety of advanced technology systems for military, civil and
commercial customers. Chief products include space launch and ground
systems, remote sensing and communications satellites for commercial and
government customers, advanced space observatories and interplanetary
spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin employs about 125,000
people worldwide and is a global enterprise principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced
technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation reported 2002
sales of $26.6 billion.
