Lockheed Martin Missile Launch from Vandenberg AFB  01-09-2004 
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Team Vandenberg successfully launched
Booster Verification Test -5 at 10:40 a.m. today.  BVT-5 tested a
three-stage booster configuration for use with the Missile Defense Agency's
Ground-based Midcourse Defense System.
	Built by Lockheed Martin Corp., the booster is one of two slated for
use with the GMD system.  The system is designed to intercept and destroy
long-range ballistic missiles.

Read more about the Mission below

 
 A view of the launch pad before launch.


 
Remote camera captures the door opening on the enclosure.

  


A wide angle photo from remote spot.
 


A vertical photo taken with a 80mm lens.
 


This photo shot with a Canon 1D and a lens set on 105mm.



Another photo from the Canon 1D.



This photo was taken from a Canon D10 with a lens set at 135mm.



 This photo and the next two were taken with a 600mm from about 3 miles away.








This photo shows the two camera enclosures I used for this launch and a view from North
Vandenberg Base looking South. You can see the SLC-2 pad which launches Delta II's
from it  in the center of the frame just sticking up above the ocean.

 
 Below are links to previous Minuteman launches

  Minuteman II launch on 09-19-2002

  Minuteman II launch Intercept test on 07-14-2001

  Minuteman II launch on 07-07-2002

  Minuteman II launch on 10-02-1999

 Minuteman II launch on 06-23-1997

LOCKHEED MARTIN WINS $760 MILLION CONTRACT TO DEVELOP NEXT GENERATION KILL VEHICLE FOR MISSILE DEFENSE

SUNNYVALE, CALIF, Jan. 7, 2004 – Lockheed Martin  today announced it has won a contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to further develop and demonstrate the first system capable of destroying multiple ballistic missile threats and decoys with a single launch. The system will carry multiple small kill vehicles that will destroy adversarial missiles and decoys by colliding with them in space.

The eight-year contract is valued at approximately $760 million; the initial 11-month contract is valued at $27 million. The U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., manages the program for the MDA.

"We are excited and proud that the Missile Defense Agency has selected us to develop and demonstrate this promising capability," said G. Thomas Marsh, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

The Miniature Kill Vehicle (MKV) concept holds the potential to provide a more cost-effective approach to countering complex missile threats with a single launch. MKV will employ multiple small kill vehicles housed within one carrier vehicle, and would be used against ballistic missiles in the midcourse stage of flight. The system will identify all credible threat objects and will destroy them using individual kill vehicles.

"MKV represents a potential game-changing capability for missile defense. It is designed to counter future threats where it is hard to differentiate between threat objects. In such scenarios, MKV would address all credible threat objects with a single launch," said Doug Graham, vice president, Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

The selection of Lockheed Martin follows a 19-month concept development phase in which the company defined its MKV design, including the carrier vehicle and the kill vehicle subsystem; as well as the program plan, schedule and cost estimates for development and production.

Lockheed Martin's modular design approach can be configured with varying quantities of kill vehicles per carrier vehicle in order to address the full range of operational scenarios. The design is also flexible to allow its MKV system to be used with the variety of missile defense boosters being used and developed by the Missile Defense Agency.

Lockheed Martin is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies. These include the world’s first successful hit-to-kill intercept with the Homing Overlay Experiment in 1984, the successful demonstration of the first complete weapon system using hit-to-kill technology with THAAD, as well as the world’s first operational hit-to-kill missile defense system, PAC-3. It also has considerable experience in interceptor systems; kill vehicles; battle management command, control and communications; precision pointing and tracking optics; as well as radar and other sensors that enable signal processing and data fusion. The company makes significant contributions to all 10 major U.S. Missile Defense Systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. A world leader in systems integration, Lockheed Martin is involved in a wide range of ballistic missile defense programs and activities for the U.S. and international government customers. The corporation reported 2002 sales of $26.6 billion.



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