Critical Design Review completed for Space Fence program
NewsSeptember 28, 2015
MOORESTOWN, N.J. The U.S. Air Force completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for Lockheed Martin’s Space Fence System. The event featured a demonstration of a small-scale system built with end-item components that detected and tracked orbiting space objects.
Before government officials conducted the three-day CDR, 21,000 pages of design documents were turned in and an eight-day design walkthrough was completed. “Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase and the start of radar production and facility construction of the Space Fence system,” says Steve Bruce, vice president for Advanced Systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business.
The team at Lockheed Martin also broke ground on the Space Fence site earlier this year on Kwajalein Island, southwest of Honolulu. The buildings are designed to handle high winds and seismic loads, while maintaining accuracy of the radar system. The site includes on-site operations center and an annex to the island's current power plant. Once construction is complete, Space Fence will undergo initial operating capability in 2018 after it completes testing and validation.
Read more on radar:
Space radar contract won by Raytheon
Space Fence radar system to identify, track space junk
Next Generation Jammer design expanded at Naval Air Warfare Center
