Page 48 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2022

48 SPACE
NOVEMBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
existing capabilities and past difficulties in delivering those capabilities and factored those findings into its offer to government.
“We have put a lot of effort into providing a high confidence schedule to Defence, and we’re pretty comfortable that our offering is very competitive with respect to those dates and the art of the possible,” Noel Borgas, Campaign Manager for LMA Space, said.
Lockheed Martin was keen to emphasise the resilience of their offer for JP 9102 – an emphasis that was also evident in interviews with both Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
“We absolutely understand the geostrategic circumstances. Operational resilience is at the forefront of considerations for our offer,” Borgas said. “We think we can provide a spacecraft and ground station offer that is tailored to the specific requirements of the Australian government, and doesn’t just churn something out we’ve sold overseas. It provides peak performance and through-put from a satellite communication perspective.”
LMA said the experience operating its Tracking, Telemetry and Command ground station in Uralla, combined with an understanding of the threat environment through overseas work, informed its offer for a current design for JP 9102, rather than a legacy design. Proper asset management efficiency and sustainment – which involves adapting the satellites and ground segments through their life – are also critical to resilience.
LEFT: Lockheed Martin Australia will leverage experience gained through its involvement with the US Space Force, including the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) network
BELOW RIGHT:
Northrop Grumman Australia’s bid for JP 9102 includes Inmarsat, L3Harris, AECOM, Blacktree Technology, EM Solutions and Vocus
As for the investment split between space-based and ground-based assets, Ball said LMA’s past experience has typically seen roughly around one third of funding spent on ground infrastructure and two thirds on space assets.
“That’s pretty consistent with this program,” he said. “We’re using companies we already work with to deliver that ground capability. We know their track record.”
LMA has planned redundancy into the ground station network, so that the loss of one can be handled by the rest. That network will be a mix of existing (but refurbished) and new ground station capabilities.
“One challenge this program has is understanding the ever-evolving environment that we’re dealing with in space,” Ball said. “We have emerging threats from non-Five Eyes nations that we need to manage and react to.”
Australian Industry Capability (AIC) is another core emphasis for LMA. “Our tender submission anticipates spending well north of $1 billion in Australia on this program,” Borgas said. “That’s across the acquisition and sustainment elements.”
LMA says it’s also looking for opportunities for Australian industry to contribute to the space vehicles, as well as to export into the broader Lockheed Martin global supply chain. Ronson Gears, for example, will contribute to all the large satellite solar array actuators and drives.
“We see the Australian space industry evolving rapidly,” Ball said. “There really has been a change in the landscape.”
LOCKHEED MARTIN