Lockheed Martin UK, headquartered in London, is the UK-based arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation, a global security and aerospace company principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company UK recently opened a space technology office in Harwell to explore opportunities in the space sector as well as develop partnership opportunities with UK businesses and universities to support the UK’s goal of maintaining and growing its national capabilities in space across the full spectrum of capabilities.
At present LMS’ space-related facilities in the UK are mostly located at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and these include: ‘Aeroshell’ thermal protection systems for re-entry vehicles; payload release mechanisms; terrestrial and planetary landing systems; space-plane actuation systems; and hypersonic, aero-thermal dynamic and aerodynamic modelling. The decision on whether or not to build A2100-class spacecraft in the UK will depend crucially on the availability of suitable assembly and test facilities.
