Jane Edwards 
Lockheed Martin has introduced its Next-Generation Space Dominance, or NGSD, a modular spacecraft designed to provide customers with rapid delivery timelines and mission flexibility across orbital environments.
Lockheed’s push for modular, rapid delivery spacecraft comes as government and industry leaders gear up to address the future of space operations and defense capabilities. Join experts at the 2026 Air and Space Summit as they explore emerging technologies shaping the air and space domains. Register now to reserve your seat at this Lockheed-sponsored event.
What Is NGSD?
The company said Monday NGSD is a modular satellite platform offered in two variants—Vanguard and Sentinel—built on a common-core architecture with interchangeable payloads and autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations capability.
NGSD Vanguard provides a lower-cost, compact option suited for short-duration missions and proliferated constellations, while NGSD Sentinel incorporates greater power capacity, higher-performance propulsion and optional refueling to support longer-duration missions.
Tim Lynch, vice president of mission strategy and advanced capabilities at Lockheed Martin Space, said customers are seeking production-ready satellite capabilities that can be delivered on timelines aligned with mission requirements.
“NGSD is our answer. It’s a light, lean, agile platform that delivers the performance of a heritage spacecraft while eliminating the bottlenecks that have traditionally slowed the industry,” Lynch added.
According to Lockheed, NGSD is designed to support operations from low Earth orbit to cislunar space; uses pre-engineered core systems; leverages Terran Orbital’s production infrastructure to reduce non-recurring engineering requirements and accelerate time to launch.
The company said NGSD integrates with its Battle Management Command, Control and Communications system and includes a deployable ground segment and Horizon command-and-control software. It expects to deliver initial NGSD variants within 30 months, with shorter production timelines for follow-on builds.
Terran Orbital, which Lockheed acquired in 2024, will provide core bus subsystems for NGSD, including avionics, software, radios and cameras, using its existing manufacturing base.
“From civil science to national security constellations, NGSD brings the principles of Dynamic Space Operations into a scalable, production-ready satellite bus platform for Space Domain Awareness and a wide range of civil, commercial and defense missions,” said Terran Orbital CEO Peter Krauss.
How Does NGSD Align With Lockheed’s Recent Space Programs?
Lockheed has continued to support U.S. Space Force and Space Development Agency missions through contracts and partnerships focused on proliferated satellite architectures. The company secured a contract to build satellites for the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer and selected Terran Orbital to supply satellite buses for that effort.
The U.S. Air Force recently awarded Lockheed and 13 other vendors spots on the potential $1.8 billion Andromeda indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide space domain awareness capabilities.
Lockheed will also provide launch support and on-orbit testing for GPS IIIF satellites under a $105 million task order with Space Systems Command.
