BETHESDA, Md., April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- From a system that turns waste into clean fuel, to unmanned aerial systems that help first responders, in 2015 Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) innovated to expand how it's addressing environmental and social challenges. The Corporation shared details about these projects and others with the release of its 2015 Sustainability Report, "Science of Citizenship". The report demonstrates progress on issues that are the most critical to stakeholders and long-term business success. In total, the Corporation achieved 95 percent of its sustainability goals.

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"We're a company of nearly 60,000 engineers and scientists," said Leo S. Mackay, Jr., vice president of Ethics and Sustainability for Lockheed Martin. "We're taking our industry-leading engineering capability and applying it to significant resource efficiency and sustainability challenges. Not only are we meeting our own goals for reducing our environmental footprint, we're also creating technology and redesigning processes that will help others make progress."

The report highlights several innovations that helped Lockheed Martin achieve its sustainability goals in 2015:


    --  Alternative Energy: The Corporation broke ground on a 250 kilowatt
        gasification plant in partnership with Concord Blue. The plant uses a
        mix of organic materials to produce synthetic gas that can be used to
        create electricity, fuels, hydrogen, heat or steam. This reduces
        emissions and waste going to landfills. To make renewable energy more
        accessible and affordable, Lockheed Martin also advanced the development
        of energy storage systems for industrial and utility customers. Safely
        adding more clean power to electricity grids helps reduce carbon
        emissions and supports efforts to improve electricity access to the
        nearly 1.3 billion people (18 percent of the global population) who lack
        basic energy access.
    --  Advanced Space Technology: Lockheed Martin assembled the first
        Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-R series (GOES-R)
        advanced weather satellite, which will provide higher-resolution images
        of severe storms five times faster than NOAA's existing GOES series.
        These early warnings will allow for better preparation, saving lives and
        community infrastructure. The Corporation also opened a test facility to
        help detect, track, and catalog 200,000 objects orbiting the planet more
        than 1.5 million times a day. Orbital debris threatens
        telecommunications and military communications infrastructure and the
        safety of human space travel.
    --  Enhanced Emergency Response: Lockheed Martin successfully demonstrated
        its K-MAX unmanned helicopter's firefighting and emergency response
        capability. The helicopter can help mitigate the impacts of extreme
        weather events and support humanitarian relief efforts. In addition, a
        single Indago quadcopter was able to survey 2,500 acres of demolished
        areas of the tiny Pacific island nation of Vanuatu following a massive
        category five storm with 155-mph winds. The quadcopter completed the
        search-and-rescue oriented task in just 12 days.
    --  Optimized Manufacturing: Lockheed Martin expanded use of 3-D printing,
        which leads to material resource savings, improved durability and
        shortened assembly time. For example, the Corporation improved the
        design and production of omnidirectional antennas that fly on all
        spacecraft. They serve as the main communications link between
        satellites and ground control. The new antenna, designed specifically
        for 3-D printing, replaced 12 complex parts and decreased materials
        necessary for production. Overall, the new approach slashed production
        time from months to days, cut machine run time, and reduced costs by
        50%.
    --  Reduced Emissions: In 2015, the Corporation activated a
        150,000-square-foot solar project in Florida that will produce
        approximately 3,300 megawatt hours of emissions-free electricity
        annually. This and other projects have resulted in renewable energy
        comprising nearly one-fifth of total electricity load used in business
        operations. As a result of renewable energy credit purchases, we avoided
        28% of carbon emissions from purchased electricity in direct operations.

Lockheed Martin is alone among U.S. aerospace and defense companies as a member of the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and recently earned its highest-ever ranking on CR Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, placing eighth.

Lockheed Martin's 2015 Sustainability Report was independently assured and compiled in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative G4 core guidelines.

For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/Sustainability

About Lockheed Martin
 Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin