Littleton Area Lockheed Martin Facilities Help NASA Venus Mission

LITTLETON, CO — Colorado's aerospace industry is yet again contributing to major NASA missions — this time, to Venus.

NASA selected the VERITAS and DAVINCI+ missions for its Discovery Program, which seeks to learn more about how Venus became inhospitable to life. NASA hasn't returned to Venus for more than three decades.

Lockheed Martin's Colorado facilities, several of which are in the Littleton area, will help to design, build and operate both spacecraft, the company said.

"We're very grateful for this opportunity to work with NASA and the missions' principal investigators to fully understand how rocky planets evolved and what it means for our planet, Earth," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Commercial Civil Space business, in a statement.

"Our team who designed these two spacecraft to study Venus in unprecedented detail – and yield answers to its greatest mysteries – is beyond excited!"

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Venus was once similar to Earth, and our sister planet may have had a liquid ocean. But Venus suffers from a runaway greenhouse gas effect, and the two missions will help scientists better understand the existence of past life on Venus and how its atmosphere and geology may have influenced its inhospitable outcome.

The missions, which are set to launch between 2028 and 2030, will study Venus' dense atmosphere, topography and geologic processes, Lockheed Martin said.

VERITAS and DAVINCI+ are the eighth and ninth NASA Discovery Program missions Lockheed Martin has been part of. Previously, the company has:

• Developed the Lunar Prospector spacecraft
• Designed and built the aeroshell entry system for Mars Pathfinder
• Designed, built and operated the spacecraft for the Stardust missions
• Designed, built and operated the Genesis spacecraft
• Designed, built and operated the two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft
• Designed, built and operated the InSight Mars lander
• Designed, built and will operate the Lucy mission to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, set to launch in October 2021

Headquartered in Maryland, Lockheed Martin employs around 114,000 people worldwide.