Lockheed wins $914M contract to track space junk

Lockheed Martin has won the $914 million Space Fence contract to improve the way the Air Force tracks debris and other objects in space by providing the service with two S-Band phased array radars.

Under the contract, Lockheed will provide its Space Fence solution, which is a ground-based radar system that has improved surveillance coverage, enabling it to better protect space assets against crashes, the company said in a release.

“Space-based technologies enable daily conveniences such as weather forecasting, banking, global communications and GPS navigation, yet everyday these critical services are being threatened by hundreds of thousands of objects orbiting Earth,” said Dale Bennett, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business. “Space Fence will locate and track these objects with more precision than ever before to help the Air Force transform space situational awareness from being reactive to predictive.”