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Stanford Research Park is usually remembered for computers and software. One of its longest serving tenants works on something much bigger: the Sun. Since 1956 Lockheed has run a research center beside Stanford in Palo Alto. Today it is called the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, or ATC. Its solar physicists have designed instruments that fly on some of the best known Sun-watching spacecraft of the past 35 years.
This profile covers when the center started, what its scientists have built, the brief STAR Labs rename and what the site looks like today. For the park around it, read our guide to Stanford Research Park.
A 1956 start beside Stanford
Lockheed's space business arrived on the Peninsula in the mid 1950s. In 1956 the company broke ground on two large campuses, one in Denver and one in Sunnyvale, for the missile and space work that became Lockheed Martin Space. That same year it began a research center in Palo Alto. Lockheed's ATC page says its history goes back to 1956, founded in Palo Alto, "helping seed what would become Silicon Valley."
The location was deliberate. Stanford had opened its industrial park in 1951 to lease land to research companies. Lockheed's 2006 anniversary release described the Advanced Technology Center as "adjacent to Stanford University in Palo Alto." Stanford Research Park lists Lockheed Martin among its current tenants and credits it with developing critical components for the International Space Station.
Lockheed says the center's early work included the foundations of solar science and rocket technology, "even underwater." It credits ATC technology with paving the way for the first imaging satellites and with the foundational technology behind the first submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory
The center's best known group is the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, or LMSAL. It describes itself as a department of the ATC in Palo Alto, made up of scientists and engineers who design, build and operate solar and astrophysical observing instruments. A NASA contact listing gives its address as 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto.
The lab studies how the Sun behaves and how solar storms create space weather. Wikipedia notes that severe space weather can disturb Earth's upper atmosphere and threaten technology on the ground and in orbit. In October 2011 the ATC co-sponsored a workshop called "Space Weather Risks and Society" with experts from industry, economics and emergency management.
Instruments that flew
Wikipedia lists a long record of LMSAL instruments in space. Highlights include:
| Year | Mission and instrument |
|---|---|
| 1962 to 1985 | At least 20 NASA sounding rocket flights with LMSAL payloads |
| 1980 | X-ray polarimeter on NASA's Solar Maximum Mission |
| 1985 | Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter on Space Shuttle mission STS-51F |
| 1991 | Soft X-ray Telescope on Japan's Yohkoh satellite |
| 1995 | Michelson Doppler Imager on the ESA and NASA SOHO mission |
| 1998 | Telescope on NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) |
| 2006 | Extreme ultraviolet imagers on NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft; focal plane package on Japan's Hinode |
| 2006 to 2010 | Solar X-ray Imagers on three GOES weather satellites |
| 2010 | Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory |
| 2013 | Both the spacecraft and the instrument for NASA's IRIS mission |
The lab also built two instruments for the next generation of GOES weather satellites: the Geostationary Lightning Mapper and the Solar Ultraviolet Imager. The LMSAL website lists current projects including the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, IRIS, Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope and the Multi-slit Solar Explorer, a NASA mission known as MUSE.
One LMSAL scientist even flew in space. Loren Acton served as a payload specialist on the 1985 shuttle mission STS-51F and operated the lab's solar instrument for two weeks in orbit.
Beyond solar science
Solar physics is only part of the ATC. Lockheed describes the center as the research labs for Lockheed Martin Space, with about 500 technologists, scientists and engineers. Its current research areas include lasers, nanomaterials and informatics. Lockheed's page cites work on lasers that can shoot down drones, lidar and ladar sensing, metals whose behavior is changed at the molecular level and graphene that might one day filter drinking water. It also mentions precision controls that let telescopes zoom in on 1 percent of the Sun's surface.
Lockheed sorts the work into three horizons: applying proven methods in production, inventing technology for emerging opportunities and researching far-future challenges it calls Gen After Next. Lockheed Martin Space, the parent business, built the Hubble Space Telescope and the Landsat satellites, according to the company's 2006 history release.
STAR Labs and a new building
On May 8, 2014, Lockheed announced from Palo Alto that the ATC would take a new name: the Space Technology Advanced Research and Development Laboratories, or STAR Labs. The release said Palo Alto was the principal site, with more labs in Sunnyvale; Louisville, Colorado; Billerica, Massachusetts; and Manassas, Virginia. It credited the team with showing what small satellites could do through IRIS, with cost savings from 3D printing and with the smallest cryocooler ever built.
The same release said the Palo Alto site had recently opened a new 82,000 square foot lab building. ABC7 News covered the dedication. It reported that the building replaced three vintage buildings put up almost 60 years earlier, brought about 130 engineers and scientists under one roof and was expected to save Lockheed about $1 million a year in energy costs.
The STAR Labs name did not last. Lockheed's current pages, including the LMSAL site, use the Advanced Technology Center name again. We could not find the date of the switch back.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1956 | Research center founded in Palo Alto; Sunnyvale and Denver campuses begin. |
| 1962 | First of at least 20 sounding rocket flights with the lab's payloads. |
| 1985 | Loren Acton flies on shuttle mission STS-51F. |
| 2010 | Instruments launch on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. |
| 2013 | IRIS launches, with spacecraft and instrument from the lab. |
| About 2014 | New 82,000 square foot lab building opens. |
| May 8, 2014 | Renamed STAR Labs; the ATC name later returns. |
Space science you can visit
The ATC is a secure defense and space facility. It has no visitor center and no public tours. Do not stop or take photos at the gates. If the lab's work sparks an interest, there are good public options nearby:
- SLAC. Stanford's national accelerator lab runs free public tours about twice a month. Our research labs guide has details.
- Stanford Student Observatory. Public nights let visitors look through telescopes. See our observatory page.
- Computer History Museum. In Mountain View, a short drive south. Our museum page covers hours and exhibits.
For other long-running research park tenants, see our profiles of Varian and Xerox PARC, or browse the guide to Palo Alto companies.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center?
It is the research lab organization of Lockheed Martin Space. Lockheed says its history goes back to 1956, when it was founded in Palo Alto. About 500 technologists, scientists and engineers work on areas such as solar science, lasers, nanomaterials and informatics.
Where is the Lockheed Martin lab in Palo Alto?
The center sits on Stanford Research Park land next to Stanford University. NASA has listed the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory at 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto. It is a secure defense and space site with no public access.
What has Lockheed's Palo Alto solar lab built?
The Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory has built instruments for missions including Yohkoh, SOHO, TRACE, STEREO, Hinode and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. It built both the spacecraft and the instrument for NASA's IRIS mission, launched in 2013.
Was the Advanced Technology Center renamed?
Yes, for a time. In May 2014 Lockheed renamed it the Space Technology Advanced Research and Development Laboratories, or STAR Labs. Lockheed's own pages now use the Advanced Technology Center name again.
Can you tour the Lockheed Martin lab in Palo Alto?
No. The site is not open to the public. For space science near Palo Alto, try SLAC's free public tours or the Stanford Student Observatory's public nights.