How We're Striving to Build Satellites Twice as Fast and at Half the Cost

As I wrap up my series of posts about the future of space, I'm excited to share a fourth and final prediction about three ways we can move faster to ultimately cut the cost and delivery time of satellites by just about half.

Transform the way we design and build. We've been talking about 3D printing and VR design for years and now we're really seeing the payoff from those investments. We're working to complete qualification for our first 3D printed propulsion tank to be used on a satellite. This will cut the cost and time to build these tanks -- which are incredibly complex and critical to the satellite's operations -- by half or even more. And that qualification isn't easy. We have to invent new ways of testing and assuring for flight worthiness, because this type of technology has never been used before. But now we not only have the technical expertise in creating these mission critical parts, we have a playbook for certifying them. And that's a huge step forward in increasing the number of printed parts on tomorrow's satellites.

At the same time, we're transforming our infrastructure. Our Gateway Center that's under construction is a new way of building satellites -- designed to be like an automated, high-throughput production line that can produce multiple large and/or small satellites a year. It's also the most flexible and versatile space we've ever developed, capable of building our largest flagship satellites and our smallest nanosatellites at the same time. Production and test chambers are all under one roof. The factory floor is fully reconfigurable, so we can either build a fast-moving assembly line for lots of small satellites or we can build multiple satellite types simultaneously.

And we're transforming our product line, with a new family of satellites that adopts commercial best practices to speed engineering and production time. Our revamped family has more commonality and a more mature engineering framework, turning the model from a highly-customized approach to a highly-standardized approach that still offers customization where it matters most for the mission.

We're already seeing these efforts pay off, like with Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1. It's the largest, most powerful satellite we've ever built, it's built on a revolutionary reprogrammable mission processor that is the first of its kind, and it was delivered in three years from contract award. That's moving fast.

Think big. Another element of moving fast is to think beyond the satellite and look at the full array of capabilities available on the ground, in the air, and at sea. Space works best when it's the coordination point for the broader mission, linking all those sensors, networks and capabilities together. And one important way we can move faster and cheaper in the future is to think about the larger set of capabilities that are available -- and take full advantage of them. For example, can we make tomorrow's DoD satellites simpler by linking them to existing or even commercially-available sensors through smart ground systems and networks? Can we lean forward more on hosted payloads to get capability in orbit faster and cheaper? Can we inject new payload technology into proven platforms to evolve those capabilities while still taking advantage of cost savings on production? The answer is yes, and the results will be astonishing. You can read a little more in my last post about how we're already working to make this a reality.

Think small. A lot of people think about Lockheed Martin as a big satellite producer. But we've built 800 small satellites in our history, and our current portfolio has platforms that would fit in the trunk of your car and are built for agility and speed. In fact, our LM 400 satellite can be delivered in as little as 24 months. In the future, we see much more diverse constellations that take advantage of multiple sizes, multiple orbits and multiple types of payloads. Some of those will be delivered and launched very quickly. And some will be larger, more powerful and entail more intense development to deliver revolutionary capabilities. We need to think of them as nodes in a flexible network that can move capability around based on mission requirements. And it's incumbent on all of us as a community to team together and find new ways to get payloads to orbit faster and with more agility. We think a mixed, layered fleet will be nimble, cost-effective and still pack a powerful punch when it comes to mission capabilities.

I've talked about the role artificial intelligence, multiple business models, software-defined satellites, and cutting down the cost and delivery time of satellites will play in the future space -- and I'm curious to hear from you. Is there anything else you're interested in reading more about? And how do you think we can and should be working together to transform space in the decades to come?