Lockheed Martin/Tuskegee University Launch Micro Satellite Program

Business Wire, Dec 19, 2001

Business Editors

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2001

Lockheed Martin announced today that it has contributed $25,000 to help Tuskegee University in Alabama establish a new Micro Satellite Program on campus. The first satellite project, designated SKEGEENIK, will provide the University's students and professors with the knowledge and training necessary to design, build and launch a satellite with a functional payload.

"Lockheed Martin is pleased to support Tuskegee's efforts to establish a micro satellite program on campus," said Jeff Harris, president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems - Missiles & Space Operations in Sunnyvale. "This initiative will help Tuskegee students open the door to the exciting business of space and provide them with the skills and abilities necessary to succeed in America's high-tech, aerospace industry."

Harris further noted that the investment is a "win-win" for both Tuskegee and Lockheed Martin. The students will benefit from on-campus training in the space industry and the Corporation benefits from having a broader pool of high-quality graduates from which to choose future employees. Lockheed Martin's chairman and CEO Vance Coffman was also on hand for the announcement which took place during a Tuskegee faculty tour of Space Systems facilities in Sunnyvale.

The Tuskegee program is designed to create a total satellite systems environment on campus. The program will incorporate the University's College of Engineering, Architecture and Physical Sciences; the College of Business & Information Science; and the College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences in the design, construction and launch of the satellite. A portion of the funds will also go to the Tuskegee University Business and Engineering (TUBE) Student Organization.

Specifically, participants from the school of business will mimic the business operations at Lockheed Martin facilities in Sunnyvale, Denver and Huntsville. Some of the parts needed to complete the construction of the satellite could be purchased from Lockheed Martin and some of its suppliers. This interaction is designed to give students valuable insight and hands-on training in the procedures and methods for purchasing parts.

Participants from the school of engineering will mimic the engineering structures in Sunnyvale, Denver and Huntsville. These participants will be responsible for designing, fabricating and testing the satellite's sub-systems. The computer hardware/software requirements and capabilities will be a cooperative effort of the computer science and computer engineering departments. The school of agriculture & environmental sciences will define and design the major payload for the first satellite. This payload will download data that is valuable to the farm and forestry communities in the southeastern United States.

"The Micro Satellite Program represents a tremendous opportunity for our University and a challenge for our students," said Legand Burge, dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Physical Sciences. "We are grateful for Lockheed Martin's support of this important program, which will educate our students in the design, manufacture, integration, and operation of a satellite in a real-world setting and create a smooth transformation from undergraduate studies to industry."

The program participants at the University and the Lockheed Martin site will conduct design reviews in all phases of the project. The ground station will also be located on campus.

Lockheed Martin has collaborated with other universities on similar programs including San Jose State, Stanford and California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. The Sapphire micro satellite, built by students at Stanford University, is now fully operational and providing education, amateur radio outreach and technology demonstration following its successful launch aboard a Lockheed Martin Athena rocket from the Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska on Sept. 29, 2001. Tuskegee plans to consult with these Universities to study their respective satellite designs and to seek advice from those programs so that we can benefit from their experience, reduce costs and save time.

Tuskegee University

Tuskegee University, an Historically Black University (HBCU), was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington, and is nationally and internationally recognized for excellence in teaching, research, and outreach. In addition to its nationally accredited program in teacher education, Tuskegee University is setting the pace in such programs as engineering, business and information science, architecture, and veterinary medicine, all holding national accreditation, and bioscience. More African American aerospace science engineers graduate from Tuskegee than from any other university in the nation. Tuskegee also has more African American engineering graduates in chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, headquartered in Denver, Colo., is one of the major operating units of the world's largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT). Space Systems is a global leader in the design, development, test and production of space launch systems, ground systems, scientific spacecraft, satellites for commercial and government customers, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.