Palmdale highlight
Aerospace industry
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman operate advanced aerospace manufacturing at Air Force Plant 42, a 5,800-acre facility that has built and tested aircraft for over 80 years.
Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale traces its origins to 1935, when it began as a small emergency airfield built by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. After World War II, it was transferred to Los Angeles County, then reactivated by the Air Force during the Korean War in 1950. The federal government acquired the land in 1954 and commissioned Lockheed to develop a master plan for the facility. Today it spans more than 5,800 acres and operates as a remote facility of Edwards Air Force Base.
The plant is home to some of the most sophisticated aircraft ever built. Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works division, which relocated to Palmdale in 1989, designs and builds classified military aircraft at Site 10. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman collectively work on platforms including the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, and other classified programs. The Space Shuttle orbiter fleet was assembled and tested here, and the facility continues to support production, modification, and flight testing of advanced aerospace systems for the U.S. Air Force and its contractors.
Aerospace manufacturing has shaped Palmdale for generations and continues to define the city's workforce, economy, and character. Thousands of skilled engineers, technicians, and fabricators depend on steady employment in the industry. Planning for a family in a high-wage, technical career means thinking ahead: protecting the income that drives a household's future, ensuring that the people you name can handle what comes after. Term life coverage that matches your working years is the practical foundation for that security.