{"id":80410,"date":"2013-08-10T00:15:38","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T16:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/lockheed-martin-expects-increase-demand-for-aehf-satellites\/"},"modified":"2013-08-10T00:15:38","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T16:15:38","slug":"lockheed-martin-expects-increase-demand-for-aehf-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/lockheed-martin-expects-increase-demand-for-aehf-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockheed Martin Expects Increase Demand for AEHF Satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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\nLockheed Martin officials say increase demand for AEHF is likely to continue.
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\nImage credit: Lockheed Martin\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[Satellite TODAY 08-09-13] Lockheed Martin<\/b> is expecting to see an increase demand for AEHF satellites over the next several years. \u201cAEHF is a critical asset to both tactical users and the highest offices of government,\u201d said Mark Valerio, vice president of Lockheed Martin\u2019s military space line of business during an exclusive interview with SatelliteTODAY.com.<\/i><\/p>\n

However, Valerio notes that despite the increased demand for more secure, ultra high frequency satellite systems, Lockheed officials are mindful of military space customers who are facing budgetary challenges and have to make some tough choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been listening carefully to them about their satellite requirements and we are concentrating on how best to deliver the perfect balance, or nexus, of affordability, capability and resiliency. Most recently, we conducted a study to help quantify the resiliency of our space architectures and we\u2019re briefing this around our customer circles,\u201d Valerio said. \u201cThe feedback we have been receiving and the resulting dialogue has been very constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also noted ongoing discussions regarding smaller satellites and payloads. \u201cIf the market shifts more this way, I am confident that Lockheed Martin will be able to offer our customers continued value. Sometimes people overlook the fact that Lockheed Martin has deployed more than 150 hosted payloads and hosted more than 300 payloads,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have actually launched more than 150 satellites weighing less than 1,000 lbs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valerio also points out that AEHF has three international partners (UK, Canada, Netherlands), and all are scheduled to make their first connections by year\u2019s end. \u201cOur system is working, in demand, and ready for the future. We are helping [by] developing affordable terminals that will put this capability in the hands of more tactical users, and we have reserve capacity for even more growth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And growth is expected throughout the remainder of 2013. \u201cWe have a healthy backlog of contracts,\u201d Valero said while declining to comment on specific numbers because of uncertainty stemming from the U.S. government\u2019s budget sequestration\u2019s impact on business.<\/p>\n

Valerio said sequestration leaves many questions unanswered as far as the long-lasting impacts. \u201cWe expect to see sequestration\u2019s impacts grow as the government\u2019s full year fiscal 2013 cuts are realized,\u201d Valerio, said. \u201cBut as we anticipated, it is taking time for our customers to determine how they will implement sequestration, and we\u2019re working closely with them,\u201d he added, noting that Lockheed has only noticed a \u201cminimal impact from sequestration,\u201d so far.<\/p>\n

But even with budget concerns, the improved communications technology available through the AEHF satellites has generated excitement within the military, law enforcement and intelligence community.<\/p>\n

Earlier in 2013, Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to manufacture two AEHF satellites for the U.S. Air Force<\/b> in a deal that was expected to generate nearly $2 billion. According to Valerio, the deal involves the AEHF Space Vehicles 5 and 6, which are in the final stages of contract negotiations. \u201cWe are finalizing terms of the contract, but we are committed to the schedule. Production on those space vehicles has already begun,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lockheed Martin officials say increase demand for AEHF is likely to continue. Image credit: Lockheed Martin [Satellite TODAY 08-09-13] Lockheed Martin is expecting to see an increase demand for AEHF satellites over the next several years. \u201cAEHF is a critical asset to both tactical users and the highest offices of government,\u201d said Mark Valerio, vice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}