MELBOURNE, 28 February 2023 – Lockheed Martin Australia today announced its intent to work with the Victorian Government to establish Victoria as the engineering and technical hub for its proposed JP9102 solution. This investment would create over 200 advanced space industry jobs in Victoria.

Under its proposal, Lockheed Martin Australia would invest in infrastructure and programs in Victoria to support the delivery of a Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) solution for Defence.

Victoria’s Minister for Manufacturing Sovereignty, the Hon Ben Carroll MP, welcomed Lockheed Martin Australia’s JP9102 proposal, acknowledging its potential to accelerate the growth of the State’s space sector.

Mr Carroll today joined Lockheed Martin Australia representatives as they made their announcement at the Avalon 2023: Australian International Airshow.

Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive, Warren McDonald, commented on Lockheed Martin Australia’s commitment to Victoria and the relationship with the Victorian Government.

“We have a well-established presence in Victoria, including our STELaRLab HQ in Melbourne - Lockheed Martin’s first multi-disciplinary research and development laboratory outside of the United States,” he said.

“Through STELaRLab we are currently partnering with universities from across Australia in critical areas such as space-based image exploitation, automated AI-based knowledge generation using nuero-symbolic reasoning, and developing world-leading sovereign technologies for space domain awareness.”

“As a global industry leader in space, we share the Victorian Government’s vision for a vibrant, dynamic space sector and welcome the opportunity to work together for its realisation.”

“The proposed investments in infrastructure, skilled jobs and STEM initiatives are designed to contribute significantly to ensuring Victoria’s space economy grows sustainably for decades to come.”

Lockheed Martin Australia’s Regional Director for Space, David Ball, reiterated the importance of a resilient Victorian space industry capability.

“Lockheed Martin Australia is committed to delivering a sovereign, operationally superior MILSATCOM system that meets Australia’s strategic needs,” he said.

To help ensure the resiliency of those capabilities into the future, we will support Victoria’s industry and research communities in their collaboration and pursuit of leading edge space technologies,” he said. “By forging new space technologies and industries we will inspire future generations of Victorian students to consider exhilarating space careers.”

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About Lockheed Martin Australia

Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company employs more than 1200 people in Australia working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors.

Lockheed Martin Australia has a well-established presence in Victoria with over 150 employees across multiple sites. We engage some 120 Victorian suppliers across our programs which support over 2,000 additional jobs across Victoria while contributing over $160 million to its GDP annually. Through our multi-disciplinary laboratory STELaRLab in Melbourne, we are currently working with universities from across Australia on space-related research and development projects with reach-back to the Lockheed Martin Space Advanced Technology Centre in the USA.

Media Contact: 

Joanne Hon: joanne.hon@lmco.com; Tel 0458 175 404