Lockheed Martin Space Systems Lockheed Martin Space Systems Lockheed Martin Space is one of the four major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It has its headquarters in Denver, Colorado with additional sites in Sunnyvale, California; Santa Cruz, California; Huntsville, Alabama; and elsewhere in the US and UK. The division currently employs about 16,000 people, and its most notable products are commercial and military satellites, space probes, missile defense systems, NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, and the Space Shuttle External Tank. The Lockheed Missile Systems Division was established in Van Nuys, Ca. in late 1953 to consolidate work on the Lockheed X-17 & X-7. The
Lockheed Have Blue declined to participate, while General Dynamics insisted on the use of electronic countermeasures. As a result, General Dynamics left the discussion. The remaining two companies, McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, were each awarded $100,000 for further research. Lockheed, having been absent from the fighter aircraft industry for 10 years, was not approached by DARPA in 1974. Ed Martin, Lockheed California Companies director of science and engineering, became aware of the research into stealth during his work at the Pentagon and Wright-Patterson AFB. Martin and Ben Rich, who at that time had recently become Skunk Works' president, briefed Clarence "Kelly" Johnson on