EOS and Lockheed Martin enter into space-tracking collaboration

EOS Space Systems, a subsidiary of Electro Optic Systems, is collaborating with security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin to provide services to government and commercial customers in the space industry. The companies have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement for the development and rollout of space-tracking capabilities at a new facility in Western Australia.

The new site will use a combination of lasers and sensitive optical systems to detect, track and characterise man-made debris, complementing radar-based systems like the US Air Force’s Space Fence. Drawing on advanced sensors and software, the site will focus on specific objects and determine how fast they’re moving, what direction they’re spinning in and what they’re made of. EOS and Lockheed Martin will collaborate on the production, deployment and operation of these sensors.

“Ground-based space situational awareness is a growing priority for government and commercial organisations around the world that need to protect their investments in space,” said the executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Rick Ambrose. “Through this agreement with Electro Optic Systems, we’ll offer customers a clearer picture of the objects that could endanger their satellites, and do so with great precision and cost-effectiveness.”

According to EOS Chief Executive Officer Dr Ben Greene, the facility will provide a space debris tracking capacity equal to 25% of all capacity presently accessible to space industry globally, approximately doubling EOS’s current capability to meet customer data requirements.

“This new tracking capacity will provide data which is exclusively available to EOS and Lockheed Martin, enabling both organisations to offer new services to meet market needs,” Dr Greene said.

“Further expansion of the partnership’s tracking capacity through additional sensors and the establishment of new sites is also under consideration.”

Construction of the new site is expected to commence within the next several months and to be completed by early 2016.

“The partnership with Lockheed Martin will help both organisations establish a global network of space sensors, while simultaneously increasing the market reach of the partners’ data and services,” said Dr Greene. “We consider the strategic partnership with Lockheed Martin a major step towards the achievement of critical mass of sensors, data and services, all of which are critical in providing detailed yet easily usable information on space debris.”