New Zealand to join U.S. backed WGS program

WELLINGTON — The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is joining an international partnership that will give it guaranteed satellite communications for the next 20 years, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman announced Jan. 18.

The NZDF is joining the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) program, a network of nine military satellites built by Boeing and operated by the U.S. Defense Department.

Coleman said WGS will increase the NZDF’s access to satellite broadband “more than 20-fold, with guaranteed access and at a fixed price, ensuring better value for money.”

New Zealand will join Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in a joint agreement for access to the network in return for partially funding the ninth satellite. Australia has been involved in a similar agreement since 2007.

Currently, the NZDF purchases bandwidth on commercial satellites at spot prices, which can involve a premium of up to 100 percent depending on demand, and which can also limit availability of bandwidth.

The NZDF will spend 83.2 million New Zealand dollars ($67 million) on WGS over 20 years. The country’s current annual spending on satellite communications for the military is about 4.3 million New Zealand dollars, growing at some 10 percent per year.

                                                                                                                                              

                

U.S. joins Europe in drive for code of conduct for outer space

BRUSSELS — The European Union hopes to organize multilateral meetings this year leading to an international code of conduct for outer space that would be broadly adopted, an EU source said.

Momentum has been building as the U.S. recently said it will join the EU and other countries in their efforts to come up with an international code.

“The United States has decided to join with the European Union and other nations to develop an International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. A Code of Conduct will help maintain the long-term sustainability, safety, stability, and security of space by establishing guidelines for the responsible use of space,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a Jan. 17 statement.

“The long-term sustainability of our space environment is at serious risk from space debris and irresponsible actors,” the statement said. “Unless the international community addresses these challenges, the environment around our planet will become increasingly hazardous to human spaceflight and satellite systems, which would create damaging consequences for all of us.”

However, the statement adds that the U.S. “has made clear to our partners that we will not enter into a code of conduct that in any way constrains our national security-related activities in space or our ability to protect the U.S. and our allies.”

In a separate statement, the U.S. says that “the European Union’s draft Code of Conduct is a good foundation for the development of a non-legally binding International Code of Conduct focused on the use of voluntary and pragmatic transparency and confidence-building measures to help prevent mishaps, misperceptions, and mistrust in space”.

In 2010, the EU agreed on a draft for a Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities, which it is using as a basis for consultations with non-EU countries. One key principle in the code that other countries may adopt is “the responsibility of states, in the conduct of scientific, commercial and military activities, to promote the peaceful exploration and use of outer space and to take all appropriate measures to prevent outer space from becoming an area of conflict.”

An EU source said Russia was one of the first countries to be consulted by the EU and that the EU has been very active consulting other countries.

Europe need financial backing for Missile Shield

PARIS — Europe has technological capabilities it could contribute to NATO’s planned missile shield to protect European territory but a financial commitment is needed, François Auque, the chief executive of EADS’s Astrium space division, said Jan. 19.

The NATO summit in Chicago in May will be of strategic importance to Astrium as decisions are due to be made on contributions intended to extend the Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense system to a territorial coverage, he said. The system was designed to protect NATO deployed troops.

“In technological terms, Europe has a certain number of competences it can contribute,” Auque told journalists. “It could contribute to the architecture for the system. The knowledge of the missile threat allows one to organize the defense architecture.”

France could contribute by making available its Spirale launch early warning satellite, a demonstrator project, he said. Spirale has a limited life and needs a program launch, he said.

“Europe could also contribute an interceptor vehicle, which would require a certain amount of development,” he said.

“There are technological bricks,” he said. “The only real subject is the financial thing.”

Astrium is prime contractor for the French M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile, which was delivered on time and on budget, Auque said. There is no better qualification to design a defense architecture than the knowledge gained from building a ballistic missile, he said.

The M51 missile entered service in 2010 after an extremely limited test-fire program, due to budgetary constraints, he said. There were five test fires and five successes, Auque said.

“That takes risk-taking to the limit,” he said. “Really.”

Astrium’s experience in building ballistic missiles helped the company win from Kazakhstan a contract for two Earth-observation satellites, when it emerged that the Kazakh minister who agreed to meet Auque for a brief presentation had been a senior rocketry officer in the former Soviet Union, Auque said.

This year, Astrium is expecting the second phase of a feasibility study on future architecture for the ballistic missile early warning system and a formal NATO staff requirement for the architecture for a territorial ballistic missile defense.

The Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) procurement office recently launched work on maintaining a capability for a future nuclear deterrence, he said.

Astrium had 2011 sales of 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion), which is expected to increase to around 5.5 billion to 5.6 billion euros with the integration of the U.S. military telecommunications satellite company Vizada.

U.S. Won't Adopt E.U. Code of Conduct for Space

The United States will not adopt a European-written "code of conduct" for activities in space on the grounds that it is too restrictive, according to a senior State Department official.

"It's been clear from the very beginning that we're not going along with the code of conduct," Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said during a Jan. 12 breakfast with reporters in Washington.

Asked why the U.S. government would not sign the document, Tauscher said, "It's too restrictive."

The European Union has been working the voluntary code of conduct for several years. The document lays out rules of the road for operating satellites and other space vehicles as space becomes increasingly congested, the idea being to minimize the chances of collisions or misunderstandings that could escalate.

The code also focuses on dealing with space debris, a problem that began getting greater public attention in 2007 after China destroyed one of its own orbiting satellites with a ground-launched missile.

"We made it very definitive that we were not going to go ahead with the European Code of Conduct; what we haven't announced is what we're going to do, but we will be doing that soon," Tauscher said.

Up to now, the U.S. government has been circumspect about its intentions with regard to the code. In April, for example, Ambassador Greg Schulte, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, described the code as a "positive approach" but stressed that the U.S. government had not yet decided whether to sign the document.

Some U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns that the nonbinding agreement would tie the U.S. military's hands in space. "We've advanced further technologically in development and actual deployment of these systems than anyone else, and agreements [and] codes of conduct tend to … constrain our military," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said during a hearing on the subject in May.

"We had never said we were going to do it; we just hadn't said 'no,'" Tauscher said.

Hinting at new U.S.-written rules of the road for space, Taushcer said, "You wouldn't be surprised to find out that we've found a nice sweet spot."

The Pentagon had concerns with the European strategy for space traffic management, but there are also "ways to deal with it," according to Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Stimson Center, a think tank here. The U.S. Defense Department did a lengthy assessment of the code of conduct and reviewed particular provisions that "would make sense for our national security."

"If the satellite is stealthy, or we want it to be stealthy, how does that fit into a traffic management system?" he said. "Now you argue … major space-faring nations can figure out the orbital characteristics of objects in space, but it you want to move an object in space do you provide advance notice of this or how do you handle that?"

If the Obama administration is going ahead with a new strategy, then the Pentagon's concerns have likely been addressed, Krepon said.

In 2004, the Stimson Center published a draft code of conduct for space, which is similar to the document pushed by the European Union.

"I think the problematic piece that the administration was struggling with was that it was made in Europe and that the really important space-faring nation felt no ownership of it," he said.

Russia, China, India and Brazil have all distanced themselves from the document, Krepon said. At the same time, Canada and Japan have endorsed the document.

"I think the conundrum that the administration is facing is how to bring in major space-faring nations that have kept their distance from the E.U.'s handiwork," he said.

The Pentagon supports a space international code of conduct, Lt. Col. April Cunningham, a DoD spokeswoman, said.

Chinese Carrier Photographed During Sea Trials

WASHINGTON - A satellite image of China's first aircraft carrier has been captured while the vessel was undergoing sea trials in the Yellow Sea, a U.S. company said on its website Dec. 15.

THIS SATELLITE IMAGE from the DigitalGlobe Analysis Center shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Varyag during its second sea trial in the Yellow Sea, approximately 100 kilometers south-southeast of the port of Dalian. (AFP Photo / DigitalGlobe)

The 300-meter (990-foot) ship, a refitted former Soviet carrier, was photographed on December 8, said Colorado-based DigitalGlobe Inc., and an analyst from the company spotted it when reviewing images five days later.

The ship underwent five days of trials in August that sparked international concern about China's widening naval reach amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a U.S. campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power.The Beijing government said earlier this month that the carrier had started its second sea trial after undergoing refurbishment and testing.

The South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas and is claimed by several countries, has dominated such disputes involving China, leading to run-ins with rival claimants including Vietnam and the Philippines.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on December 7 urged the navy to "accelerate its transformation and modernization" and "make extended preparations for military combat" to safeguard national security.

Beijing only confirmed this year that it was revamping the Soviet ship, the Varyag, and has repeatedly insisted that the carrier poses no threat to its neighbors and will be used mainly for training and research purposes.

But the August sea trials were met with concern from regional powers including Japan and the United States, which called on Beijing to explain why it needs an aircraft carrier.

China only provided the first official acknowledgment of the carrier in June when Chen Bingde, the nation's top military official, gave an interview to a Hong Kong newspaper.

The Chinese have yet to announce a name for the ship, which is commonly referred to by its old Soviet name. Although some media have used the name Shi Lang - a 17th century admiral who led a Chinese conquest of Taiwan - Chinese media often omit a name reference.

Coincidentally, the Varyag's sistership, the Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, is also at sea - the first time both ships have been under way on their own power at the same time.

The Kuznetsov left its Northern Fleet base in Murmansk earlier this month for a three-month cruise to the eastern Mediterranean, where it may call at the Syrian port of Tartus. The carrier was reported off Scotland earlier this week. ■

Staff writer Christopher P. Cavas contributed to this report.

Japan Launches Spy Satellite

TOKYO - Japan launched a new spy satellite into orbit Dec. 12 amid concerns over North Korea's missile program and to monitor natural disasters in the region, officials said.

The Japanese H-2A rocket carrying an information-gathering radar satellite lifted off at 10:21 a.m. local time from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.

"The rocket was launched successfully," said Toshiyuki Miura, a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built the satellite and worked on the launch with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

"The satellite was separated into orbit around the Earth later," Miura added.

The government decided to build an intelligence-gathering system after North Korea launched a missile in 1998 that flew over the Japanese archipelago and into the Pacific, shocking many in Japan.

In defiance of international pressure, North Korea launched what was believed to be a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile in April 2009, with an estimated range of 6,700 kilometers (4,100 miles).

Japan has three operating optical satellites. Two radar ones were successfully placed into orbit, but both broke down later. Another optical satellite was launched in September but is not yet functioning.

Demand for land surveillance grew, meanwhile, after Japan's March 11 quake and tsunami, which killed some 20,000 people and crippled cooling systems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, northeast of Tokyo, causing reactor meltdowns.

"The project is aimed at boosting security and monitoring land in case of sizable natural disasters like the one in March," a government official said, adding that the current three satellites were used to track the March calamity.

"If everything goes smoothly, it will be the first radar satellite under the program," the official said. "With the radar satellite, we can introduce wider usage of the system."

Radar satellites are able to capture images at night and in cloudy weather, something that optical satellites cannot.

The latest satellite cost some 39.8 billion yen ($512 million) to develop, while the launch cost about 10.3 billion yen, Kyodo News reported.

JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy had originally planned to launch the satellite Dec. 11, but it was postponed due to bad weather.

EDA To Set Up Pilot European Satellite Procurement Cell

BRUSSELS - National defense ministers from 26 of the European Union's 27 member states (Denmark has an opt-out) have granted the European Defence Agency (EDA) a budget of 30.5 million euros ($40.7 million) in 2012 and agreed the agency should set up a pilot European satellite communication procurement cell.

Despite a considerable amount of talk about the importance of EU member states pooling and sharing more military capabilities and the ongoing financial crisis, there was precious little agreement on concrete initiatives with specific timelines.

At a news conference Nov. 30, EDA Chief Executive Claude-France Arnould described satellite communications as a "key enabler of any operation," allowing "soldiers to communicate, ships to navigate, HQ to operate in theater."

The new procurement cell will involve six to eight member states including the U.K., said Arnould.

It will be up and running straight away. Currently, member states spend about 3 million to 5 million euros per year to acquire satellite communications bandwidth. Demand is growing, particularly with the widespread use of UAVs on the battlefield, which require substantial communications capacity to control and transmit data from sensors.

The pilot program is designed to prove that pooling demand will reduce both costs (10 percent estimate) and ensure better availability (security of supply and rapid access). Astrium has been selected as the broker for this activity following an open competition.

Arnould said air-to-air refueling was a "major capability shortfall, as shown again in Libya," and that the aim "is to improve operational output and cost effectiveness and to address the dependency on the U.S. of European air forces."

Speaking privately, an EU official said that a medium- and long-term aim is to convince EU member states to reduce the current nine refueling fleets down to four (A400M, C130J, Airbus 330 and B767) and not to buy outside those aircraft types.

Another option Arnould noted is for those member states that are not buying A400Ms to instead purchase kits or pods allowing them to refuel from the A400M.

She stressed that there were "no proposals on the table for common procurement of new equipment" and that "capability is not just about acquisition." Training helicopter pilots is one example of a capability that the EDA has been working on since 2009.

The other eight areas for further consideration include maritime surveillance networking (currently covering EU borders only but might be extended for expeditionary tactical operations such as the Atalanta counter-piracy operation); medical field hospitals; future military satellite communications; ISR; pilot training; European transport hubs; smart munitions (the Libya operation showed that EU member state stockpiles were insufficient and that there was an overdependence on the U.S.); and naval logistics and training (capabilities such as aircraft carriers could be made available at all times by synchronizing maintenance schedules on a multinational basis).

Arnould also stressed that the EDA is working to coordinate with NATO as "cooperation is not a beauty contest between NATO and the EDA." She said the EDA would continue work on pooling and sharing, with a more comprehensive agenda coming out in the spring, just before NATO unveils its so-called smart defense proposals at its Chicago summit.

The key question is whether EU member states will follow up with concrete proposals in the 10 pooling and sharing areas other than the satellite communications cell. Regardless of how many proposals the EDA comes up with, that appears to be in doubt.

Arnould said there was "clear momentum for moving forward" and "an important window of opportunity to improve European defense capabilities" but conceded that "cooperation is not a natural reflex" and that "there are concerns, in particular about sovereignty and autonomy."

EU defense ministers also approved an administrative cooperation agreement between the EDA and Switzerland, under which the two parties can work together on research and technology, and armaments cooperation. The framework agreement sets out procedures for mutual consultation as well as for Swiss participation in ad hoc EDA programs and projects.

Lockheed To Demo Command System in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Lockheed Martin was due this week to give a demonstration of its command-and-control product pitched in the United Arab Emirates' two-horse tender for an integrated air and missile defense system, a company executive said.
Lockheed Martin was very confident it could "meet or exceed the requirements for the system," Dennis Cavin, vice president of international air and missile defense, said Nov. 13 at the Dubai Airshow.

The U.S –based company and ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) are competing for an estimated $1 billion contract under the United Arab Emirates' extended air defense ground environment-transformation program.
Lockheed expects the Emirati authorities to carefully analyze and evaluate the competing offers and select the supplier, Cavin said. A selection decision is understood to be close, he said.
Lockheed also soon expects the country's reduced order for its Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, Cavin said.
The decisions for the air and missile defense system and the THAAD procurement were not related, but Cavin said that the two Lockheed weapon systems, THAAD and PAC-3, being bought by the United Arab Emirates should be plugged into a command-and-control system offered by the same company.
The initial THAAD buy was valued at $6.95 billion when announced in 2008, but the United Arab Emirates has cut the number of units - and, therefore, the sale's value - by about one third.
TRS, a joint venture between Thales and Raytheon, has made several demonstrations of its product in recent weeks to Emirati officials as part of the tender process, a company executive said.
All technical information has been presented to the United Arab Emirates, and a selection could be made any time, the executive said.
TRS has a presentation display of its SkyView air C4I product on its stand at the exhibition. The display shows a map of France and a host of information tracks and symbols of the air environment with potential for tracking aircraft and missiles in the airspace.
The system features include mission planning and execution, as well as fusing of information from a variety of sources.
The down selection to Lockheed and TRS eliminated Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Saab, industry sources said.
"We respect the customer's decision making process," Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said.

Japanese Inventor Develops Flying Sphere Drone

TOKYO - A Japanese defense researcher has invented a spherical observation drone that can fly down narrow alleys, hover on the spot, take off vertically and bounce along the ground.

It is powered by a propeller protected by a spherical shield with large openings for airflow, meaning a knock into a wall or a tumble to the ground will not damage it.

About the size of a beach ball and jet black, the remote-controlled Spherical Air Vehicle resembles a tiny Death Star from the "Star Wars" movies but has a more benign purpose - to transmit live images from a video camera.

Research to improve the device is continuing, but its designer says that in the future, it could be used as a formidable pursuit vehicle that can travel above traffic or spy on a target through a window.

Its inventor in pacifist Japan hopes it could also help with non-aggressive operations, such as search and rescue in disaster zones, where it could fly through buildings and even up and down stairways.

"This is the world's first spherical air vehicle," said its developer, Fumiyuki Sato, a research engineer at the Defense Ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute in Tokyo.

The latest model, the seventh prototype, is equipped with a single propeller shielded by the shell with flaps and wings to control its flight. It can zip through the air at up to 37 miles per hour.

Sato said all its components can be found on the Internet or in shops in Tokyo's electronic tech-geek heaven of Akihabara.

The motor at the core is contained by a modified plastic bottle, and the total cost for the parts come to 110,000 yen ($1,400) for the latest model, which weighs just 12.3 ounces and has a diameter of 16.8 inches.

Sato admits that many hurdles remain before the flying sphere can be put to practical use, including adding an autopilot function and finding ways to cope with turbulence and poor weather conditions.

The current model could not, for example, be used at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, crippled by the March 11 quake and tsunami, because it can only fly within the field of vision of the controller, he said.

"Even though I can see footage from the mounted camera, it would be very difficult to control this" using the video, Sato said, noting that the drone floats in the air at a very delicate balance and cannot stop quickly.

Nonetheless, Sato sees a range of possible missions for the drone in future.

A more advanced model, he said, could hover above a motorcade for security, or if in pursuit of a fleeing target, "it could go below an electric cable, fly above the next one, and then turn a street corner."

Japan, U.S. To Expand Missile Defense, Cyber Cooperation

The United States and Japan pledged to continue working together on missile defense, cyber and space initiatives, as well as expanding information-sharing and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities.
"We have … agreed on a framework to transfer jointly produced missile defense interceptors to third parties, to deepen our cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and to start new initiatives in space and cybersecurity," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said during a June 21 briefing.

As for missile defense, the ministers decided to study future issues in preparation for transition to a production and deployment phase of the SM-3 Block 2A. The ministers designated the Joint Arms and Military Technology Commission as the consultation mechanism for such future third party transfers.
In addition, the ministers agreed to promote dialogue on the diversification of supplies of critical resources and materials, including energy and rare earths, which are abundant in the region.
"The ministers decided to expand joint training and exercises, study further joint and shared use of facilities and promote cooperation, such as expanding information sharing and joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities, in order to deter and respond proactively, rapidly and seamlessly to various situations in the region," according to a joint statement by the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee.
The U.S. reaffirmed its pledge to defend Japan and the peace and security in the region through conventional and nuclear force.
The United States also pledged to "tailor [its] regional defense posture to address such challenges as the proliferation of nuclear technologies and theater ballistic missiles, anti-access/area denial capabilities, and other evolving threats, such as to outer space, to the high seas, and to cyberspace."
In space, the two countries acknowledged the potential for future cooperation in space situational awareness, a satellite navigation system, space-based maritime domain awareness and the utilization of dual-use sensors, according to the statement. The ministers also agreed to "promote the resilience of critical infrastructure, including the security of information and space systems."
The ministers also welcomed the establishment of a bilateral strategic policy dialogue on cybersecurity issues.
Many of the strategic agreements are related to recent activities by China and North Korea.
China has been developing anti-ship ballistic missiles that the U.S. views as a threat to its ships in international waters.
At the same time, North Korea has been developing strategic ballistic missiles.
In addition, much light has been shed on the need for space situational awareness in the wake of a Chinese anti-satellite test several years ago, which resulted in the creation of a large amount of space debris.

Gates: New Weapons For 'Robust' US Role In Asia

SINGAPORE - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday vowed the U.S. military would maintain a "robust" presence across Asia backed up with new high-tech weaponry to protect allies and safeguard shipping lanes.

Seeking to reassure Asian allies mindful of China's growing power and Washington's fiscal troubles, Gates told a security conference in Singapore that Washington's commitment to the region would not be scaled back.

Instead, the U.S. military will expand its presence in Southeast Asia, sharing facilities with Australia in the Indian Ocean and deploying new littoral combat ships (LCS) to Singapore, where it has access to naval facilities, he said.

The LCS is a speedy, lighter ship designed to operate in shallow coastal waters.

Gates, who steps down at the end of the month after more than four years as Pentagon chief, said the U.S. military planned to deepen its engagement with countries across the Pacific, with more port calls and training programs.

The U.S. military will be positioned in a way "that maintains our presence in Northeast Asia while enhancing our presence in Southeast Asia and into the Indian Ocean," Gates said.

The speech came as countries facing a rising China watch the United States for signs of its long-term security plans in Asia, amid mounting disputes over territorial rights in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea.

"The U.S. position on maritime security remains clear: we have a national interest in freedom of navigation; in unimpeded economic development and commerce; and in respect for international law," Gates said.

Citing investments in new radar-evading aircraft, surveillance drones, warships and space and cyber weapons, Gates said the United Sates is "putting our money where our mouth is with respect to this part of the world - and will continue to do so."

The planned weapons programs represented "capabilities most relevant to preserving the security, sovereignty, and freedom of our allies and partners in the region," he said.

The programs also include maintaining America's nuclear "deterrence" amid continuing concern over North Korea's atomic weapons.

Senior U.S. officers have long pointed to China's military buildup, saying Beijing's pursuit of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles as well as cyber warfare capabilities pose a potential threat to US naval power in the region.

Without naming China, Gates said the new hardware was a response to "the prospect that new and disruptive technologies and weapons could be employed to deny US forces access to key sea routes and lines of communications."

Although the Pentagon's budget would come under growing scrutiny and military spending in some areas would be cut back, Gates predicted that investments in the key "modernization" programs would be left untouched.

"These programs are on track to grow and evolve further in the future, even in the face of new threats abroad and fiscal challenges at home."

This would ensure "that we will continue to meet our commitments as a 21st century Asia-Pacific nation - with appropriate forces, posture, and presence", he said.

Looking back on US policy in Asia since he took over at the Pentagon in 2006, Gates said the military had bolstered ties with old allies, such as Japan and South Korea, as well with new partners, including India and Vietnam.

The speech reflected how Washington has sought to strike a delicate balance between countering a more assertive Chinese military with a bigger presence in the region while seeking to defuse tensions through dialogue and exchanges.

Gates, who held talks with his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie on Friday, said efforts to promote a security dialogue with China had borne fruit and that military relations had "steadily improved in recent months."

Lockheed: Little to No Damage from Cyberattack

WASHINGTON - Major U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin said May 29 it was investigating the source of a major cyber-attack one week ago against its information network, the company said.
"Lockheed Martin detected a significant and tenacious attack on its information systems network," the company said in a news statement released late May 28.

The company said the cyber-assault took place on May 21, and that quick action by its security team successfully repelled the attack.
"No customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised," Lockheed's statement said, adding that federal authorities had been notified.
"Throughout the ongoing investigation, Lockheed Martin has continued to keep the appropriate U.S. government agencies informed of our actions," the company said.
President Obama has been briefed about the attack, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"It has been part of the briefing materials that he has," Carney said. "My understanding, based on what I've seen, is they feel it's fairly minimal in terms of the damage."
Lockheed Martin said its officials are working "around the clock to restore employee access to the network, while maintaining the highest level of security."
It did not mention the suspected source of the cyber-attack.
The company's information security team detected the attack almost immediately and took what is described as "aggressive actions" to protect all systems and data, the statement added.
The statement said that despite the attack, the company remains confident in the integrity of its "robust, multi-layered information systems security."
Federal officials, for their part, told U.S. media that the consequences of the attack for the Pentagon and other agencies was "minimal," and no adverse effect on their operations was expected.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 126,000 people worldwide. It focuses on design, development and manufacturing of advanced technology systems, including some of the military's most advanced weaponry.
Seventy-four percent of the company's 2009 revenue came from military sales, according to published reports.
Lockheed Martin's products included the Trident missile, P-3 Orion spy plane, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets, and C-130 Hercules military cargo planes among many other major weapons systems.
The company is a primary developer of stealth technology used in U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, the F-117 fighter jet as well as the F-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter designs.
The corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations reached $45.8 billion.
However, the stealth Joint Strike Fighter program has faced delays and cost overruns, and the Pentagon overhauled the program last year.
The initial estimate for each F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft was $50 million eight years ago, but more recent estimates were up to $92 million.
Meanwhile, NASA announced last week that a new spacecraft to ferry humans into deep space would be based on designs for the Orion crew exploration vehicle built by Lockheed Martin.
The Orion capsule, originally designed to take astronauts back to the moon, is a surviving component of the Constellation manned space exploration program canceled by Obama last year for being behind schedule and over budget.
The capsule will weigh 23 tons and NASA has no date set for a potential launch, said Douglas Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's exploration systems mission directorate.
There is also no final cost associated with the project.
Lockheed Martin is to continue its work on building the space capsule begun in 2006.

U.S. Rolls Out Red Carpet for China Military Chief

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military will lay out the red carpet for China's military chief as Washington renews its effort to forge a defense dialogue with Beijing despite tensions and mutual distrust.
People's Liberation Army (PLA) Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde starts a week-long visit May 15 to the United States, the first trip to America by the country's top-ranking officer in seven years, officials said.

Chen will tour four military bases, deliver a speech to American officers and hold talks with his U.S. counterpart, Adm. Mike Mullen, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a senior defense official said.
"We've pulled out all the stops" for the visit, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
Military relations between the nations have been strained and lagged behind diplomatic and trade ties, with Beijing objecting to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan while Washington has voiced concern about China's military buildup.
Gates and other U.S. officials have appealed to China to agree to a more reliable dialogue that could help defuse tensions and avoid potential misunderstandings, similar to ties that were built up between the Americans and the Soviets during the Cold War.
"What we're really looking for is a relationship that there's some mutual transparency and trust developed between us. So that if there is some incident or some disagreement, it's a relationship that we can depend on," the official said.
The Pentagon did not expect a breakthrough during Chen's visit but the official said Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, hoped to persuade Chen to agree to more regularly scheduled discussions.
"We will discuss options for more contact, with some established rhythm, periodic phone conversations, something like that," he said.
The last U.S. visit by a senior leader from the PLA was in 2009, when Gen. Xu Caihou came to Washington and toured military bases.
When the U.S. defense secretary paid a high-profile visit to Beijing in January, the Chinese military upstaged Gates with an inaugural test flight of the country's J-20 stealth fighter.
Chen was expected to offer his view of military relations at a May 18 speech at National Defense University after holding talks May 17 with Mullen and senior military staff in the Pentagon's "tank."
Over the course of the week, the Chinese general is due to get a first-hand look at U.S. naval warships at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.; a "live fire" exercise at Fort Stewart, Ga.; fighter aircraft at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; and the military's National Training Center in California.
Chen also plans to attend a concert May 16 at Washington's Kennedy Center with bands from the U.S. Army and the PLA performing. U.S. officials said it will mark the first time a PLA band has ever played in the United States.
Chen's visit comes after the United States said May 11 that it wanted to set guidelines with Beijing on the use of space, voicing worries that the Asian power is increasingly able to destroy or jam satellites.

Putin Sacks Russia's Space Chief

MOSCOW - Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency Roskosmos, was fired from his post by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on April 29 and replaced by Army Gen. Vladimir Popovkin, the former first deputy defense minister. Popovkin had overseen weapon procurement.
The official reason for relieving Perminov, cited in Putin's order, was that he reached the maximum age of 65 for a state servant in Russia. In the meantime, analysts and industry insiders quoted in the Russian media have predicted Perminov's ouster since December. On Dec. 5, three GLONASS-M satellites failed to reach orbit and fell into the Pacific Ocean after the faulty launch of a Proton-M rocket that carried them.

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Office of the Prosecutor General to investigate Roskosmos and other space industry companies involved into the Glonass project.
A former chief commander of the Space Forces, Perminov headed Roskosmos since 2004.
Popovkin, 53, headed the Space Forces between 2004 and 2008, when he was appointed as deputy defense minister in charge of weapon procuremen

Europe's Earthcare space laser mission gets go ahead

Europe's Earthcare satellite is unlikely to get into space before 2016

Europe is to press ahead with its Earthcare space laser mission, despite a 30% rise in its probable final cost.

The satellite will study the role clouds and atmospheric particles play in a changing climate.
But the difficulty in finding a workable design for the spacecraft's lidar instrument means its total budget will now top 590m euros (£500m).
Member states of the European Space Agency are convinced though that Earthcare will deliver invaluable data.
Delegates to the 18-nation alliance this week accepted the findings of a review that assessed the technical risks of proceeding.
They also heard a clear message from the scientific community that Earthcare would do pioneering research.
"The Programme Board confirmed the conclusions of the independent assessment," said Dr Volker Liebig, Esa's director of Earth observation.
"This re-affirmed the high scientific value of the Earthcare mission - that there are unique synergies between all the instruments and it makes no sense to remove any of them. The board is confident that all has been done to reach the mission objectives in the 'costs at completion' which are at the moment foreseen," he told BBC News.
Earthcare is one of Esa's proposed Earth Explorers - a series of spacecraft that will do innovative science in obtaining data on issues of pressing environmental concern.
Three missions have so far gone into orbit, returning remarkable new information on gravity, polar ice cover, soil moisture and ocean salinity.
Earthcare will study how clouds and aerosols (fine particles) form, evolve and affect our climate, the weather and air quality.

Climate modellers need more information on clouds

Scientists say knowledge gaps in such areas severely hamper their ability to forecast future change.
Different sorts of cloud have different effects. For example, low cloud can help cool the planet while high cloud can act as a blanket.
Developing the primary instrument on Earthcare to get at this information has proved extremely problematic, however.
Prime contractor, Astrium-France, has had a torrid time arriving at a design that will reliably work in the vacuum of space.
A fundamental re-configuration of the lidar has added significantly (140m euros) to the projected total mission cost.
It has also delayed the mission's probable launch date to 2016 - two years later than recent estimates.
Concerned about developments, member state delegations had requested a review of the project's status.
The lidar will fire pulses of ultraviolet light down into the atmosphere.

EUROPE'S EARTH EXPLORERS

• Goce was launched in 2009 to map the subtle variations in Earth's gravity field
• Smos (above) has been studying ocean salinity and soil moisture for over a year
• Cryosat-2 was launched in 2010 to measure the shape and thickness of polar ice
• Swarm is a trio of satellites that will map the Earth's magnetism from next year
• Aeolus is another innovative laser mission that will measure winds across the globe
• Earthcare was selected in 2004 to examine the role of clouds and aerosols in climate change
• Two other missions will emerge from competitive selection processes

From the way this light is scattered back to the spacecraft, scientists can build up a picture of where in the atmosphere different cloud types and aerosols reside.

Combined with the data from three other instruments onboard, it should then be possible to work out the implications for the energy budget of the Earth.
"The board was asked to look into a potential de-scoping of the mission, but it was the clear view of all the scientists that the breakthrough Earthcare will deliver comes from the combination of all the instruments," Dr Liebig said.
Europe has yet to fly a space lidar mission and so developing this expertise is seen as an important technology goal for Esa.
Earth observation is currently the agency's biggest programme, representing a fifth of its total budget or 844m euros in 2011.
The extra cost of Earthcare will need to be absorbed, but Dr Liebig said the tendency of all high-technology missions to slip over time meant the additional expenditure could be managed in an affordable way.
Like all Esa missions, Earthcare will be a pan-European effort. However, the mission has particular significance for the UK.
The main structure of the spacecraft will be built in Britain (Astrium-UK at Stevenage), as will two of its instruments, at SSTL (Guildford) and SEA Group Ltd (Frome).
The fourth instrument on Earthcare is being supplied by Japan.

India has technology to defend satellites: Saraswat

India did not believe in space wars but had all the technology required to integrate systems to defend its satellites, V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, said today.

"Our country does not have a policy to attack anybody in space. We don't believe in it. But as part of the Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, we have all the technology elements which are required to integrate a system through which we can defend our satellites or take care of future requirements."

As a country, "we do not believe in space wars", he said in response to a query whether India had anti-satellite weapon capabilities.

India did not have a formal anti-satellite weapon policy of attacking satellites in space, but was well geared in case of any eventuality, he told reporters here.

China Developing Counterspace Weapons: DoD Deputy

WASHINGTON - China is developing counterspace weapons that could shoot down satellites or jam signals, a Pentagon official said Feb. 4 as the United States unveiled a 10-year strategy for security in space.
"The investment China is putting into counterspace capabilities is a matter of concern to us," Deputy Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Gregory Schulte told reporters as the defense and intelligence communities released their 10-year National Security Space Strategy (NSSS).

The NSSS marks a huge shift from past practice, outlining a 10-year path for the United States to take in space to ensure it becomes "more resilient" and can defend its assets in a dramatically more crowded, competitive and challenging environment, Schulte said.
A key reason for developing the new strategy was "concern about the number of counterspace capabilities that are being developed," said Schulte.
"China is at the forefront of the development of those capabilities," he said.
China in 2007 shot down one of its own weather satellites using a medium-range ground missile, sparking international concern not only about how China weaponizing space, but also about the debris from the satellite that is still floating around in space.
Beijing is also working on ways to jam satellite signals and is developing directed energy weapons, which emit energy towards a target without firing a projectile, Schulte said.
U.S. concerns over China's space activities have led Defense Secretary Robert Gates to seek to include space in the stability dialogue with the Chinese, Schulte said.