Lockheed Provides NASA Interplanetary Spacecraft; Cleon Lacefield Comments

Lockheed Martin has delivered a spacecraft to NASA for exploring the solar system, the company announced Monday.

The company is the prime contractor for the Orion crew exploration vehicle, designed for mission to destinations including asteroids, Lagrange Points or the moon.

Lockheed is now preparing for an exploration flight test, said Cleon Lacefield, a vice president and program manager for Orion.

Over the next year-and-a-half, the company will perform final assembly, integration and testing at the Kennedy Space Center preparation for the 2014 test flight.

Installed subsystems will include propulsion, thermal protection, environmental control, avionics, power, mechanisms and landing and recovery systems.

In 2017, Orion will launch aboard a Delta IV Heavy to a 3,600-mile high altitude and re-enter at up to 20,000 miles per hour, the company said.

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