Australia Selects Lockheed Martin For Satellite Communications Network
Australia’s defence ministry announced Monday that it had selected Lockheed Martin Australia as its preferred tenderer for Australia’s first sovereign-controlled satellite communication system.
According to the Defence press release announcing the selection, Lockheed Martin will now proceed to the next stage of Joint Project 9102 Phase 1, where it will engage in “collaborative tender clarification and improvement activities”. Lockheed Martin beat consortiums led by Airbus, Boeing, Optus, and Northrop Grumman for the largest-yet Australian military satellite project.
Head of Air Defence and Space Systems Division Air Vice-Marshal David Scheul stated that Australia’s first sovereign-controlled satellite communication system would provide coverage of Indo-Pacific ocean regions, noting that Defence currently had up to 89 capabilities that depended on satellite communications. “Once delivered, the new system will increase the resilience, agility and flexibility of Defence’s military satellite capability”, said Air Vice-Marshal Scheul.
The system, estimated to cost between $3 and 4 billion Australian dollars, will include new Defence controlled and operated geo-stationary communications satellites, multiple ground stations across Australia, an Integrated Satellite Communications Management System, and two new satellite communications operations centers.
The system will replace the Optus-operated C1 hybrid commercial and military communications satellite. The C1 satellite will be replaced by the new system in 2034, with Defence signing an agreement with Optus to extend use of the C1 until then in April 2022.
“We are proud to be selected as the preferred bidder to deliver this critical capability to the Australian Defence Force,” said Warren McDonald, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand. “This capability will provide the Australian Defence Force with robust connectivity and reliable information when and where they need it, and by extension, contribute further to the growth and development of Australia’s defence and space industries.”
According to McDonald, a “significant amount” of the content for Lockheed Martin’s proposed JP9102 solution will be delivered by Australian small and medium enterprises, adding that the company is “committed” to knowledge sharing and technology transfer. Lockheed Martin lists Australian companies including Inovor Technologies, EM Solutions, AV-Comm, Linfox, Shoal Group, Ronson Gears, Calytrix Technologies, Conscia, Clearbox Systems, DXC and Blacktree Technology as partners delivering ground and control segments and more for JP9102.
Lockheed Martin has partnered with the government of Victoria to establish the state as the engineering and technical hub for its JP9102 solution, claiming that the investments made will create over 200 advanced space industry jobs in Victoria.