Ex-BOE chief organizing local Lockheed Martin office
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published Sept. 13, 2006

Frank Berkopec, a retired NASA Glenn engineer and former president of the Fairview Park Board of Education, is heading up the local office of Lockheed Martin, which is responsible for building key parts of America’s next space vehicle.

In June, the Glenn Research Center was given responsibility for development of the spacecraft’s service module, which will provide power and propulsion.

On Aug. 31, NASA named Lockheed Martin as the primary contractor for the spacecraft, which will be named Orion.

Berkopec, whose title is local representative for Lockheed Martin Space Systems, was hired by the Bethesda, Md.-based company in June.

“Currently I function as the Glenn office (for Lockheed Martin Space System),” Berkopec told West Life. “I’m getting the ball rolling.”

At least 100 Glenn employees will be at work on the Orion project by the end of the year, said Bryan Smith, chief of Orion-related work at Glenn.

But Berkopec said the number of Lockheed Martin employees who will be assigned to Orion is still unknown.

“I don’t know what size staff they anticipate,” he said. Details of local staffing levels are still evolving, he added.

Fairview Park officials have been hoping contractors for the new spacecraft will utilize two Brookpark Road buildings Glenn plans to abandon in coming months. Those two buildings, located within Fairview Park boundaries, represent the city’s largest employer. Loss of income tax from those buildings forced the city to undergo a restructuring which resulted in layoffs.

Berkopec, who currently is using office space at Glenn and also working out of his home, said Lockheed Martin would consider using the Brookpark Road buildings.

“It is a possibility,” Berkopec said of Lockheed Martin using the Glenn buildings, dubbed Buildings 500 and 501.

Berkopec met with Jim Kennedy, the city’s development director, just hours after Lockheed Martin was named Orion’s main contractor.

Berkopec, who held several executive positions during his 38-year career at Glenn, retired in December 1999 as chief of the Aeropropulsion Research Program Office.

Two of his top achievements while at Glenn were participating in the first orbital test of an ion-engine rocket in the early 1970s and restructuring and reinvigorating the aeronautical base research and technology program, Berkopec told West Life.

Berkopec said Lockheed Martin found him when they were looking for individuals with knowledge of and experience at Glenn.

“I’m excited, of course, to be working on this,” he said.

Berkopec was on the Fairview Park Board of Education from 1997 to 2001, serving as president the last year. He chaired the citywide sewer task force in 2002-03. He has also been active with the Fairview Park Republican Club.