Lockheed Martin [LMT] assembled its fifth Mobile User Objective System satellite faster than the previous four builds, getting the satellite into early testing 20 percent ahead of schedule, the company said Monday.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems technicians integrated the system module and core to the multi-beam assembly, which contains the 16 ultra-high frequency (UHF) antennas, and the satellite is now in the early stages of system testing, where individual parts of the payload and space vehicle will be tested to ensure they function correctly.
“Our fifth MUOS satellite shows strong learning curve benefits. Compared to our last build, we are approximately 20 percent ahead of schedule,” Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin, said in a company statement. “We are continuously improving our manufacturing, test, launch and orbit operations to best serve the U.S. Navy and users that need secure, mobile voice and data communications.”
Bombelyn added in an email that the company has gone out of its way to incorporate lessons learned from each satellite and continuously updates and streamlines its testing procedures. This satellite is the last in the company’s five-satellite contract with the Navy.
”For example, we cut build times for multi-beam antennas by 60 percent and payload system modules by nearly 70 percent,” she wrote in the email. “We did this by carefully noting the flow and revising things such as locating components for convenient access for installations, kitting of installation materials and implementation of standard repairs for multi-layer insulation, which is handled multiple times.”
Once this satellite completes the system testing, it will undergo performance and environmental tests to ensure it is ready for service life in orbit, Bombelyn added.