A Factory Full of GPS III Satellites
A Factory Full of GPS III Satellites
Right behind the second GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV02), eight more contracted GPS III satellites are moving through production flow at Lockheed Martin’s nearly 40,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art GPS III Processing Facility (GPF) near Denver. Components of the next six satellites, GPS III SV05-10, are arriving at Lockheed Martin daily from more than 250 suppliers in 29 states. To date, more than 70 percent of parts and materials for SV05-08 have already been received. The company was put under production contract for SV09-10 in late 2016. With multiple satellites now in production, Lockheed Martin engineers are descending the manufacturing learning curve with smarter, faster processes. Key to that improvement is the GPF, a cleanroom manufacturing center designed in a virtual-reality environment to maximize production efficiency. Lockheed Martin invested $128 million in the new center, which opened in 2011.