Lockheed Martin selected for USAF HoPs initiative

Lockheed Martin has been selected for an initiative that aims to integrate government payloads on commercial satellites as part of the first phase of the US Air Force’s Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) programme. The company is now eligible to competitively bid on future payload hosting opportunities covered under a $495 million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

Under the IDIQ bidding contractors will be expected to match government-provided payloads with appropriate commercial satellites and to integrate these to meet critical launch timelines.

Government payloads for the satellites will include electronics and sensors packages designed for specific missions.

Lockheed Martin will draw on experience that has seen it deliver 84 payloads on 16 different types of satellites from multiple manufacturers since 2000. Three of these were government payloads placed onto commercial hosts, where integration challenges including both the business and technical aspects of the satellite’s mission had to be resolved.

Mark Valerio, vice president military space, Lockheed Martin, said: ‘In these challenging budgetary times, HoPS is an innovative, cost-effective approach that will allow the air force to leverage commercial spacecraft to host some of its future space missions. We plan to bring our experience in both payload integration and commercial satellites to bear on HoPS, supporting the air force’s goal of reaching the nexus of capability, affordability, and resilience for its future space architecture.

‘Lockheed Martin also has built and launched more than 100 commercial satellites. We know the commercial industry and have strong ties there. Combined with our experience in mission engineering and system solutions, we are confident we can bring forward affordable hosted payload opportunities at the right time and the right place for mission needs.’

The HoPS acquisition is managed by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Advanced Systems and Development Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California.