A lab Lockheed Martin opened in downtown Colorado Springs two years ago to help it bring new space technology more quickly to the military, civilian and commercial customers is already paying dividends for the space and defense giant.

The 4,000-square-foot center in the Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation on downtown’s east edge was built to bring Lockheed Martin engineers, researchers and other employees together with small and startup businesses to develop technology to meet the latest challenges in space. The center includes a virtual lab for those working on projects either in person or remotely can test out ideas and plans to evaluate their effectiveness.

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Lockheed already is incorporating some early results in small satellites it will soon be building in Littleton for remote sensing, imaging, communications and many other military, civilian and commercial uses and can be manufactured and deployed both more quickly and at a much lower costs than most of the military and commercial satellites now in orbit, said Paul Pelley, senior director for advanced programs at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton.

“These satellites were developed digitally so they are adaptable, flexible and can be built on a production line instead of one, two or a handful at a time,” Pelley said Monday at a briefing at the center designed to highlight the company’s space-related projects. The company has already started the production line in Littleton and is testing the small satellites so they can move into full production, though the company hasn’t yet said when that will happen.

Lockheed Martin’s briefing came a day before the company will unveil virtual reality simulation of its Lunar Mobility Vehicle at the Space Symposium, which opened Monday at The Broadmoor. Symposium attendees will be able to experience driving on the moon, which has just 60% of Earth’s gravity.

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Dan Tenney, the company’s vice president of strategy and business development, said Lockheed Martin formed a team of engineers and technical staff to rapidly develop new technology and products needed to respond to new space challenges. He cited several new satellites the company is developing for quick deployment, including those that will service other satellites, enable communication on the moon and for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Tenney said Lockheed Martin is developing many of the new satellites without receiving military, government or commercial contracts first so it can demonstrate the technology for potential customers and get them launched and operating more quickly. Many of the satellites company officials showed off Monday have already been launched or will be launched later this year to demonstrate a specific technology or capability.

The company is using the same rapid-development approach to a variety of technologies and space vehicles the company is producing for missions planned to the moon and Mars. That includes satellites that will enable communications on the moon, a lunar mobility vehicle, a nuclear reactor to provide power on the moon and a rocket propulsion system that will use nuclear thermal power instead of the solid fuels all rockets use now in spacecraft.

“Our vision is for a nuclear-enabled, water-based economy on the moon. We want to mine water for oxygen to breathe and hydrogen to burn. We will need a lot of power on the moon and be able to refuel there instead of having to only launch from Earth,” said Kate Watts, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for mission strategy and advanced capabilities. “We want to enable communication, transportation, surface mobility, power and habitation on the moon.”

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