Lockheed Eyes Broader Partnerships With Commercial Space Companies

The president of Lockheed Martin‘s space business unit said the company plans to work with more commercial space entities to maintain its leadership in the space domain.

Speaking at an interview during the Satellite 2024 conference, Robert Lightfoot, a past Potomac Officers Club speaker and Wash100 awardee, said Lockheed Martin Space is actively looking for partners experienced in ISR, communications and small satellites. He also pointed out that the company has already provided venture investments to companies such as ABL Space, Xona Space Systems and Terran Orbital.

In other matters, Lightfoot shared that Lockheed is investing in smallsat demonstrations to address potential issues and mitigate technical risks before the government uses them, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

The U.S. military is also keen on broadening its partnerships with the commercial sector.

In January, Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, the U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations, said the service’s private-public partnership includes commercial space product procurement where the Space Force will not be compelled to own the systems it buys.

In November, a Department of Defense spokesperson said Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, is leading efforts to create a commercial space integration strategy ensuring that commercial technologies are readily available and can help the United States maintain an advantage over China.