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ILS Sets Launch Date for AMC-9 Satellite on Proton

McLEAN, Va., March 24, 2003 -- International Launch Services (ILS)
has set April 29 for its first Proton rocket launch of the year from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the AMC-9
communications satellite for SES AMERICOM.

A Proton K vehicle with a Breeze M upper stage will be used for the
delivery-in-orbit mission, which was contracted with satellite
builder Alcatel Space of Cannes, France.

"Alcatel and SES AMERICOM had a choice of vehicles for this mission,"
said ILS President Mark Albrecht. "We are pleased with their
confidence in the Breeze M upper stage as the low-risk solution."

"We are confident in Alcatel's selection of the Proton with the
Breeze M upper stage," said Dany Harel, vice president, Space Systems
and Operations, for SES AMERICOM. "We have a well-established
relationship with ILS and look forward to working with them again."

This will be ILS' 14th launch of a satellite for a member of the SES
GLOBAL family of companies - SES AMERICOM and its predecessor GE
AMERICOM, SES ASTRA and AsiaSat. In addition, ILS is scheduled to
launch AMC-10, 11, and 12 in the 2003-04 time frame. SES AMERICOM
also signed up this month for an additional Proton/Breeze M launch.

"Our strategy for the last several years has been to transition all
our Proton launches to the Breeze M, because we know nothing is more
important to our customers than reliability," Albrecht said. "With
the AMC-9 vehicle decision, and the recent new Proton/Breeze M launch
orders from Telesat and SES AMERICOM, we have three votes of
confidence in just one month." 

AMC-9 is a Spacebus 3000B3 model with 48 transponders. It will enable
SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL company, to expand its digital television
broadcasting, data transmission and telecommunication service
offerings to North America from its orbital slot of 72 degrees West
longitude. AMC-9 will weigh about 4,100 kg at launch.

ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT) in the
United States, which builds the Atlas rocket; and Russian companies
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC
Energia. Khrunichev produces the Proton vehicles and the Breeze M
upper stage. 

ILS was formed in 1995 to provide launch services to customers
worldwide, including technical, management and marketing expertise.
It offers the broadest range of launch services in the world along
with the highest reliability in the industry.

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