Dynavac of Hingham, Mass., and Matrix Systems of Tulsa, Okla., were recently awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin Space Systems worth more than $20 million to build the thermal vacuum chamber that will be used for environmental testing of GPS 3 satellites, according to an Oct. 18 Dynavac press release.
Denver-based Lockheed Martin is under contract with the U.S. Air Force to deliver the first two GPS 3 satellites, which may be followed by up to 10 more identical spacecraft under the first block of the program. They are set to begin launching in 2014.
Dynavac and Matrix Systems were chosen to build a new thermal vacuum chamber at Lockheed Martin’s Littleton, Colo., facilities that should be ready for use by November 2011, the press release said. Dynavac will design and fabricate the vacuum pumping system, thermal shroud and thermal control systems, it said.
