Lockheed Martin Ventures plans to double its investment budget.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and its venture finance arm Lockheed Martin Ventures plans to boost the latter’s investment outlay from $200 million to $400 million.

In a release the company said: “Doubling our ventures fund will allow us to increase the number of start-up companies we can work with to advance 21st Century Security technologies for the benefit of our customers.”

Year to date, the ventures fund has already invested in 11 new technology companies focused on areas of interest such as sensor technology, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, and space services.

According to Lockheed Martin vice president Eric Brown, the lion’s share of the budget will likely go to space startups when executives meet next week to assess investing opportunities. (SpaceNews)

Lockheed has already invested in several space companies in recent years including small satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital, small satellite launcher ABL, satellite refueling startup Orbit Fab, space data relay startup Hedron, and navigation startup Xona Space Systems.

Specific areas of interest include:

· quantum computing for space-based applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence

· nontraditional phenomenologies to capture data from space

· the combination of space with weapons systems

· on-orbit logistics including satellite servicing technologies

Brown told Space News the company needed “to behave like a venture capital organization so far as delivering returns, but at the same time it’s looking at technologies that are going to be beneficial to the various missions that Lockheed Martin undertakes.”

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