Lockheed Martin creates commercial satellite production plant
Sunnyvale, CA — Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Company plans to deliver satellites 50 percent faster by creating the world`s largest commercial satellite production plant. The Commercial Satellite Center will house both final assembly and environmental test facilities in the same building. Beginning operations in February, the $65 million, 158,000 sq. ft. center includes three highly specialized testing chambers that simulate launch and deep space conditions. Two local engineering and construction firms, Black & Veatch and XL Construction, teamed to design-build the three testing chambers. They include a $5.6 million, 64,000 cu. ft. acoustic test cell capable of generating 155 decibels to simulate blast-off and booster rocket vibrations; an $8.2 million, 11,664 cu. ft. thermal vacuum chamber; and a $5.9 million planar nearfield range, maintained as a Class 100,000 cleanroom with temperature control of ± 1 degree C. The planar nearfield range measures the accuracy of antenna and reflectors alignment so that satellite signals go where intended on the earth`s surface. A 3-ft. thick re inforced slab isolates the chamber, and an independent steel frame structure supports the RF-shielded panels, virtually making the chamber a separate “building-within-a-building.” Support facilities designed and built by Black & Veatch/XL for these test chambers include a $6.8 million new building addition and a $2.2 million gaseous nitrogen production facility and liquid nitrogen storage yard adjacent to the testing chambers. Also, an existing 85,000 sq. ft. area in Building #159 has been designed and refurbished into a Class 100,000 cleanroom assembly area, which began operating in December. The project was built in less than half the time allotted because of the use of design-build construction, which enables construction to begin before all aspects of design are final.