Lockheed Martin plans to unveil key details today about its bid to build the nation’s first new manned spacecraft in three decades.
The company may announce that some of the work on the project will shift from Jefferson County to Cape Canaveral, Fla., where NASA plans to launch the new spacecraft, industry observers say.
About 150 workers at Lockheed’s Waterton Canyon plant in Jefferson County have been leading the work on the proposed crew exploration vehicle, or CEV. The company also has a CEV office in Houston.
Today’s scheduled announcement, however, will take place at Cape Canaveral near Kennedy Space Center. The company doesn’t have a CEV office there yet.
“That’s the nature of the business that they’re in – they tend to move people frequently,” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. “It’s understandable why they would want to be near the site of operations.”
John Karas, vice president of space exploration for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed, will speak at the news conference, which the company said will offer an “inside look at its plans and concept of operations.”
Lockheed spokeswoman Joan Underwood, who is based in Jefferson County but flew to Cape Canaveral for the announcement, declined to discuss specifics. She said the new plans will give the company a “significant competitive advantage.”
Lockheed is competing against an El Segundo, Calif.- based team led by Northrop Grumman for the multibillion- dollar contract.
Northrop is working on a plan that “will identify the work locations that will deliver the best value for the taxpayer’s dollar,” said company spokesman Brooks McKinney.
Proposals are due March 20, and a winner is expected to be selected by August.
The CEV will transport up to six crew members to the international space station and up to four to the moon. It also may be used for missions to Mars.
NASA has placed more emphasis on the project recently, proposing to spend $3.05 billion in fiscal 2007 on the program that includes a CEV, almost double the estimate of a year ago.
The agency has said it wants to fly the first CEV mission as soon as possible after the space shuttle is retired in 2010, with the first flight coming as early as 2012. The original target was 2014.
Paul Nisbet, an analyst with JSA Research in Newport, R.I., said winning the CEV project is crucial to both Lockheed and Northrop.
“It’s important because of the prestige more than anything else,” Nisbet said. “When you build … for NASA, you’re not making much money. There’s a lot of revenue flowing, but the profit rate is very low.”
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
