The Gateway Center, Lockheed Martin’s satellite factory of the future, has reached a milestone stage. The foundation of the 266,000 ft2 building has been completed, and the construction team has begun installing vertical structural steel.
The US$350 million project is on track for delivery in 2020. Located on the company's Waterton Canyon campus near Denver (US), this is Lockheed Martin's latest step in an ongoing effort to provide future missions at reduced cost and cycle time.
The building will house an ISO Class 8 high bay cleanroom, an anechoic chamber, and a large thermal vacuum chamber to conduct dynamic endurance tests on the satellites.
"The transformation of this site in just a few short months has been remarkable," said Bill Breeden, vice president of assembly, test, launch and operations (ATLO) at Lockheed Martin Space.
"The basement level has been excavated, the concrete foundation is laid, and we're already raising the steel beams that make up the backbone of the structure. We're well on our way to a 2020 grand opening," he added.
Embedded functions of the building will reduce satellite production processes from days to mere hours., the company said. The building is value engineered and will integrate industry best practices for satellite manufacturing.
