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  • CELEBRATION-Lockheed Martin Vice President of Production Dennis Little speaks to employees of the company during a celebration lunch held Wednesday. The company celebrated operating at John C. Stennis Space Center for the past ten years as they conducted tests and constructed propulsion systems that brought government and private sector satellites into orbit. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari)

    CELEBRATION
September 13, 2012

Lockheed Martin celebrates 10 years at Stennis

By Jeremy Pittari, Item Staff Writer The Picayune Item

STENNIS — Propulsion systems constructed and tested by Lockheed Martin at John C. Stennis Space Center over the past 10 years have put 32 satellites into orbit.

Employees with Lockheed Martin gathered on Wednesday to enjoy a barbecue lunch and reflect on the work done during their tenure at the Hancock County facility. Lockheed Martin Center Director David Hartley said the entire process, from construction to testing, is done on-site.

The facility produced an average of 3.2 spacecraft per year over the past decade to take satellites into orbit. There are six such devices now under production at the Stennis facility that are expected to be completed early next year, Hartley said. The satellites taken into orbit by Lockheed Martin rockets were for both the private sector and for the military. They not only ensured the safety of American soldiers, but also provided GPS coordinates that lead commercial fishermen to the best catches, said Lockheed Martin Vice President of Production Dennis Little.

GPS data also helps farmers produce crops. Using GPS data, farmers can measure the output of each acre, telling them which plot will need the most fertilizer the next season, Little said.

A new form of human space travel is being developed, called the Orion program, since the shuttle program has been retired, and Lockheed Martin is part of the program. The company is using the Stennis site to develop the next generation of propulsion systems that will take man beyond low Earth orbit.

Satellites put into both low and high Earth orbit in the future are expected to soon provide better and more accurate weather forecasts, Little said. The propulsion systems that will put those satellites to orbit are being developed by Lockheed Martin at Stennis.

Development of the engines requires special facilities, and the Lockheed Martin facility at Stennis has 52,000 square feet of cleanroom space inside the 220,000 square foot facility to get the job done. Gold/aluminized Mylar thermal blankets for use in the rockets also are manufactured at the site.

The test stands at Stennis provide a place for Lockheed Martin to put their engines through their paces here on Earth.

Wednesday’s event was not for the hardware, but for the people who produce it. Teamwork was the theme of the day.

“It was the people working together as a team that got us where we are now,” Space Systems Manufacturing Engineer Gordon Stewart said.

Twenty-seven employees who have been working at the center since the doors opened also were recognized for their dedication. Little said Lockheed Martin employees worked hard over the past decade to produce the hardware carrying both man and satellites into space.

“They built this hardware with their hearts,” Little said.

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