Steve Skladanek: Lockheed Eyes 5-Year Overlap in Operations Between Atlas V, Vulcan Rockets

Lockheed Martin plans to concurrently operate its Atlas V rocket with the United Launch Alliance-built Vulcan launch vehicle for a period of five years, Space News reported Friday.

“We will be flying both vehicles for some period of time until we are absolutely certain that the Vulcan system can maintain the cadence, and the rhythm and reliability that our customers are expecting of us,” Steve Skladanek, president of Lockheed’s commercial launch services business, said Wednesday at the Satellite 2017 conference.

Caleb Henry writes that ULA, a Lockheed-Boeing joint venture, expects Vulcan to make its debut flight in 2019.

Skladanek also noted that Lockheed has ceased efforts to “actively” market its Athena rocket due to lack of a significant customer base.

Lockheed co-developed Athena with Alliant Techsystems, which now operates as part of Orbital ATK, the report added.

The decision comes more than two years after Lockheed partnered with Alaska Aerospace to use the Athena rocket to launch the latter’s small- and medium-lift missions from the Kodiak Launch Complex.