Naomi Cooper
Robert Lightfoot, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin‘s space division, said the aerospace and defense company aims to enter into partnerships with smaller space technology developers to speed up engineering and manufacturing efforts, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.
Speaking at the Satellite Innovation conference in California, the former NASA acting administrator said Lockheed partners and invests in early-stage space companies through its $400 million venture capital arm.
Among the companies backed by Lockheed Martin Ventures is ABL Space Systems, an El Segundo, California-headquartered small launch vehicle developer. ABL and Lockheed are working together to help the U.K. perform its first vertical orbital launch.
Lightfoot, a two-time Wash100 awardee, said partnering with other space companies underscores the defense contractor’s commitment to contributing its strengths to support them and vice versa.
“Don’t take away their advantage. Embrace it, leverage it and feed it so that they can then help us in their own independent way. It’s the way of the future and it’s the way of now. You are going to see it accelerate,” Lightfoot said on his strategy to help early-stage companies achieve success.
