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Tag: Lockheed Martin

Firefly Aerospace to launch at Wallops Island

Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has picked Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located on Accomack County’s Wallops Island as a new launch site for its two-stage orbital Alpha rocket, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. 

A small launch vehicle, the Alpha serves commercial, civil and national security clients and can carry 2,200 pounds to low earth orbit.

Founded in 2017, Firefly has launched the Alpha four times from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. A fifth launch, scheduled for Wednesday, is also set for the former air force base. Firefly plans to begin launching Alpha from Virginia in 2025. 

Additionally, Firefly expects to later launch from Wallops the medium launch vehicle (MLV) it’s designing with Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman. The MLV can carry more than 35,000 pounds to low Earth orbit.

“Firefly is committed to establishing a regular on-demand launch service and serving our customers’ growing responsive space needs, and that requires operating a diverse set of launch sites,” Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, said in a company press release distributed Monday. “Virginia Spaceport Authority further sets us up for success by enabling a streamlined approach to launching both Alpha and MLV from one location at [the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport] with minimal congestion from the broader launch market.”

Firefly also plans to operate a launch control center, horizontal integration facility and administrative office space on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, according to the company’s press release.

Firefly plans to launch the Alpha four times in 2024 and six times in 2025. By 2026, the company plans to have monthly Alpha launches. 

Firefly’s first launch of Alpha in September 2021 exploded in mid-air. The October 2022 launch, however, successfully reached orbit. In September 2023, Firefly launched Alpha and deployed a satellite 27 hours after launch orders were issued, according to the U.S. Space Force, setting a new record for responsive space launch.

The fourth Alpha launch in December 2023 carried a payload for Lockheed Martin.  A software problem caused the rocket to deploy a satellite to the wrong orbit. 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is located on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Virginia Spaceport Authority leases from NASA the land for the launch pads and other facilities. 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport offers three launch pads, with a fourth under construction, as well as a payload processing facility. California-based Rocket Lab announced in February 2022 that it had selected Wallops Island as the location for its launch site and a new manufacturing and assembly complex for its new, reusable Neutron rocket.

 

Leidos promotes chief information officer

Alexandra Guenther became Leidos’ chief information officer March 11, according to a spokesperson for the Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor. 

Guenther previously worked as program vice president for the civil operation of the Antarctic support contract at Leidos, where she led a cross-functional team of more than a thousand employees, according to her LinkedIn page. Prior to that, Guenther was chief technology officer for Leidos’ Enterprise IT and Mission Solutions Operation. 

In 2003, Guenther began working at Lockheed Martin in project engineering and project management roles and advanced into management roles. Leidos closed on a merger with Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions business in 2016.  

Carly Kimball, Leidos’ executive vice president and chief performance officer, wrote in a LinkedIn post that Guenther brings many assets to the team, including energy, technical expertise and mission obsession. 

Guenther is a board member of the Cyber Guild, a nonprofit that works to attract diverse talent to cybersecurity, and she often speaks about the importance of encouraging girls to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. 

After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science and management of IT from DeSales University in Pennsylvania, Guenther completed a master’s of science degree in systems engineering from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Leidos provides technology, engineering and science services to defense, intelligence, civil and health market customers. It has about 47,000 employees and reported approximately $15.4 billion in 2023 revenue.

Lockheed Martin Manassas office wins modification to $190.27M Navy contract

The Manassas office of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Rotary and Mission Systems sector will add work on a contract the company previously won. The modification is to a $190.27 million Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. It is to exercise an option for engineering design development and supporting material procurement, the Department of Defense announced Friday.

Work is expected to be completed by July 31, 2023, and 65% of it will be performed in Manassas.

The U.S. Navy 2021 fiscal year funds provide $5.4 million from procurement and $1.5 million from research, development, test and evaluation that will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

BAE Systems locks onto $117M subcontract for missile-seeking tech

Arlington-based defense contractor BAE Systems Inc. received a $117 million subcontract from Lockheed Martin Corp. to produce missile-seeker technology for long range anti-ship missiles (LRASM), it announced Monday .

The seeker technology enables LRASM to detect and engage maritime targets in contested environments with less dependence on traditional navigation systems. The contract will support missiles for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and allies through foreign military sales as well as research, development, test and evaluation services.

“We’re committed to providing affordable systems that deliver unmatched capabilities to the U.S. and its allies,” Bruce Konigsberg, BAE Systems’ radio frequency sensors product area director, said in a statement. “We’ve designed efficient seeker systems that are easier to build and test without compromising on performance.”

Work will be conducted in BAE Systems’ facilities in Wayne, New Jersey; Greenlawn, New York; and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Booz Allen Hamilton hires senior VP to lead AI practice for DOD

McLean-based Fortune 500 global management consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. has hired Matt Tarascio as a senior vice president in its Strategic Innovation Group, it announced Wednesday. Tarascio will lead the analytics and artificial intelligence business to support the Department of Defense.

Tarascio was previously Lockheed Martin Corp.’s vice president of AI, and its first chief data and analytics officer before that. Tarascio also held senior roles at Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky Commercial Aircraft and Services company in the innovation, engineering, programs and strategy departments.

Steve Escaravage, the senior vice president of Booz Allen’s analytics practice and AI services business, said in a statement: “Matt’s extensive domain knowledge, combined with his understanding of the unique needs of clients operating in the defense sector, make him a tremendous asset to Booz Allen and our clients.”

Tarascio hails from Australia and has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland’s Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center.

Northrop Grumman wins missile defense contract worth up to $3.9B

Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp. and partner Raytheon Missiles & Defense were awarded a Missile Defense Agency contract worth up to $3.93 billion to perform work on the U.S. ballistic missile defense system, the agency announced Tuesday.

Part of an award of $1.6 billion in contracts through fiscal year 2022 to Northrop Grumman and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, Northrop and Raytheon will conduct risk reduction and technology development work in Arizona, Utah and Alabama on the Next Generation Interceptor program, part of the ground-based missile defense system that will protect the country from intercontinental ballistic missiles. The end of the contract, including flight test options, is in 2029, according to Northrop.

Lockheed will work with Aerojet Rocketdyne on its part of the contract in Alabama and California, which is worth up to $3.7 billion with option periods through 2025.

“We are honored to be selected by the MDA as prime contractor to develop the NGI system to protect our nation from advanced missile attacks,”  Scott Lehr, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager of launch and missile defense, said in a statement. “There is a critical timeline for fielding this capability and our team brings together the industry’s top missile defense talent, agile design and manufacturing practices, and state-of-the-art operational factories to support the MDA and our nation’s defense against these evolving threats.”

Northrop Grumman employs more than 90,000 people and reported $33.8 billion in 2019 revenue.

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