Manufacturing & industry
Lockheed Martin
American aerospace manufacturer that reported Space segment sales of $13.029 billion for 2025 and whose Orion capsule flew NASA's Artemis II crew around the Moon in April 2026.
Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace and defence manufacturer formed on 15 March 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta. It is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland, and runs four business segments: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space. The company employed about 123,000 people in 2025 and reported net sales of $75.048 billion for that year, of which the Space segment contributed $13.029 billion, closing December with a backlog of $193.622 billion.
Lockheed Martin Space, based in Littleton, Colorado, has built NASA's Orion crew capsule, GPS navigation satellites, and Mars spacecraft including MAVEN, Mars Odyssey, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Orion is its most visible civil programme: Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor and says it led the capsule's design, development, and production. On 10 April 2026 the capsule carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch with the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen splashed down in the Pacific, ending a ten-day, 694,481-mile Artemis II flight around the Moon.
That flight arrived years late. NASA traced char loss on the Artemis I heat shield to heat building up inside the Orion capsule's Avcoat ablative material during re-entry, which raised internal pressure, cracked the material, and shed pieces of its outer layer. On 5 December 2024 the agency pushed Artemis II from September 2025 to April 2026 and Artemis III from September 2026 to mid-2027, deciding to keep the existing Avcoat shield and instead fly a less stressful re-entry trajectory, at the cost of landing precision.
On the national-security side, Lockheed Martin built all ten GPS III satellites; the last of them, SV10, lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on 21 April 2026, after earlier satellites in the series were moved off United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket because of its development delays — a setback for the launch venture Lockheed Martin owns 50-50 with Boeing. Twelve follow-on GPS IIIF satellites are in production in Denver. The company also bought the financially troubled small-satellite maker Terran Orbital on 30 October 2024 at $0.25 a share, a deal valued at about $450 million. Corporate results have been rougher than the space record suggests: $1.6 billion of pre-tax programme losses cut second-quarter 2025 net earnings to $342 million from $1.64 billion a year earlier.
What they build and operate
- Orion · Spacecraft · Operational
NASA crew capsule for which Lockheed Martin is prime contractor and says it led design, development, and production; it carried the Artemis II crew around the Moon and splashed down on 10 April 2026.[4][8] - GPS III · Satellite · Operational
US Space Force navigation satellites; Lockheed Martin built all ten, and the final spacecraft, SV10, launched on 21 April 2026.[5][11] - GPS IIIF · Satellite · In development
Twelve next-generation navigation satellites; the company says they are under contract and in production in Denver, adding Regional Military Protection anti-jamming.[5] - Terran Orbital · Satellite · Operational
Small-satellite maker acquired in October 2024; it supplies buses for the Space Development Agency transport and tracking layers and continues as a merchant supplier.[9] - Planetary spacecraft · Spacecraft · Operational
Mars spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin Space, including MAVEN, Mars Odyssey, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.[2]
Milestones
- 15 March 1995
Formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta.[1] - 30 October 2024
Closed the acquisition of small-satellite maker Terran Orbital at $0.25 a share, a deal valued at about $450 million.[9] - 05 December 2024
NASA pushed the Lockheed Martin-built Orion's Artemis II flight from September 2025 to April 2026 after heat-shield char loss on Artemis I.[8][7] - July 2025
Second-quarter net earnings fell to $342 million from $1.64 billion a year earlier after $1.6 billion of pre-tax programme losses.[10] - 29 January 2026
Reported 2025 net sales of $75.048 billion, Space segment sales of $13.029 billion, and a backlog of $193.622 billion.[3] - 10 April 2026
Orion returned the four-person Artemis II crew to a Pacific splashdown after a 694,481-mile flight around the Moon.[4][13] - 21 April 2026
Launched GPS III SV10, the tenth and final satellite of the GPS III series, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral.[11][5]
Facilities
- Lockheed Martin Space headquarters · Littleton, Colorado, United States
Headquarters of Lockheed Martin Space, the division behind Orion, GPS navigation satellites and Mars spacecraft.[2] - Denver satellite factory · Denver, Colorado, United States
Where the GPS IIIF navigation satellites are in production.[5] - Sunnyvale space site · Sunnyvale, California, United States
One of the division's principal sites alongside Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and Huntsville, Alabama.[2]
Leadership
- James D. Taiclet
Chairman, president and chief executive officer (as of 29 January 2026)[3][1] - Robert Lightfoot
President, Lockheed Martin Space (as of 10 April 2026)[4] - Frank St. John
Chief operating officer (as of 29 January 2026)[12] - Evan Scott
Chief financial officer (as of 29 January 2026)[12]
Sources
WikipediaLockheed Martinen.wikipedia.org
WikipediaLockheed Martin Spaceen.wikipedia.org
Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Resultsnews.lockheedmartin.com
Lockheed MartinSplashdown! Lockheed Martin-Built Orion Spacecraft Safely Returns Astronauts to Earth, Completing NASA's Artemis II Missionnews.lockheedmartin.com
Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Launches GPS III Satellite, Paving the Way for Next-Generation GPS IIIF Spacecraftnews.lockheedmartin.com
Lockheed MartinSpacelockheedmartin.com
SpacePolicyOnline.comNASA Identifies Root Cause of Orion Heat Shield Char Lossspacepolicyonline.com
SpacePolicyOnline.comMore Delays: Artemis II Slips to April 2026, Artemis III to Mid-2027spacepolicyonline.com
Via SatelliteLockheed Martin Closes Terran Orbital Acquisitionsatellitetoday.com
Airforce TechnologyLockheed Martin earnings dip in Q2 2025 amid programme lossesairforce-technology.com
Spaceflight NowSpaceX launches final GPS III satellite for the U.S. Space Forcespaceflightnow.com
Lockheed MartinAnnual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025sec.gov
Al JazeeraNASA's Artemis II astronauts splash down on Earth after lunar missionaljazeera.com
Coverage of Lockheed Martin
Military satellite communications
Space Force awards five vendors to test shared data-network interfaces
Five companies will each receive a $12 million prototype package to show that independently built satellites and terminals can exchange data through the Space Data Network. The demonstrations are integration tests, not orders for an operational fleet, and they sit beside a separate $2.29 billion backbone award made to SpaceX in May.
Update this profile
Work at Lockheed Martin or represent it? If something here is wrong or missing, email contact@spaceexploration.news with a public source for the change. Every profile edit is verified before it is published.
Request a profile change