Lockheed Martin A2100

The A2100 is a communications satellite spacecraft model made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in the 1990s-2010s for telecommunications in geosynchronous orbit, as well as GOES-R weather satellites and GPS Block IIIA satellites.

The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed for a variety of telecommunications needs including K_a band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and K_u band payload configurations, high-power direct broadcast services using the K_u band frequency spectrum, and mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band and S-band payloads.

The A2100 satellite system was developed by a Skunk Works team at the Astro Space East Windsor, New Jersey facility. A group of Space Architects, including Brian Stewart, John Close, Pete Wise, Jim Wilson (GE R&D Lab), and Keith Davies delivered a flexible common bus with fewer components, lower spacecraft weight, and reduced customer delivery time.

The first satellite, AMC-1, was launched September 8, 1996, and has achieved 15-year on-orbit service life. Since 1996 there have been over 45 of the A2100 based satellites launched, with over 400 years of total on-orbit service. Recent A2100 spacecraft include JCSAT-13 and VINASAT-2, which were launched May, 2012 on an Ariane 5 rocket.