The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1958, the latest event was in 2024
Four milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1970 – MM X-24A flight 14, Dryden Lake – Pilot John Manke – MILESTONE: 55 years ago
1985 – LAUNCH: STS-51-G (Discovery), LC39A, KSC – 7 person crew, satellite retrieval and launches of three commercial satellites. Crew: Daniel Brandenstein, John Creighton, John Fabian, Steven Nagel, Shannon Lucid, Patrick Baudry (CNES – France), Prince Sultan bin Salman al Saud (Saudi Arabia) – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
Military and Classified Programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, GD Atlas/Lockheed Agena B, SLC3W, VAFB
2021 – LAUNCH: LM GPSIIIA-05 (Neil Armstrong), SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5, LC40 CCSFS – First DoD mission on a re-used SpaceX booster
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
2024 – Lockheed Martin and partners receive the prestigious Collier Trophy award for the OSIRIS-REx mission (National Aeronautic Association)
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1958 – First Martin Titan I delivered to USAF
1963 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, EAG-154, ETR
1970 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Poseidon C3, LC25C, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 55 years ago
Other:
1995 – LM (GD) Atlas assembly line moved from Kearney Mesa, California to Littleton, Colorado – MILESTONE: 30 years ago
The photo today is of the launch of LM GPS III SVN-05 (“Neil Armstrong”) on SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2021, with the first re-use of a booster on a DoD mission.
The photo was found on the USAF/USSF/DoD photo archives (visual information) library and is labeled public domain with the following description and disclaimers:
Under the power of nine Merlin engines, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:09 p.m. EDT (9:09 am. PDT) June 17, carrying the fifth Lockheed Martin-built Global Positioning Systems (GPS) III Space Vehicle (SV05) into Medium Earth Orbit for the U.S. Space Force. (Courtesy Photo by SpaceX)
Non-Commercial Use Authorized. Except in cases where productions are authorized for DoD assistance, DoD VI [Visual Information] may be distributed, copied, and used, for non-commercial, personal use, as well as historical and newsworthy purposes or activities. Display of the non-DoD endorsement disclaimer is requested.
“The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.”
