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Boeing Satellite Pioneer Harold Rosen Inducted to National Inventors
Hall of Fame

ST. LOUIS, May 1, 2003 - Dr. Harold Rosen, a consultant and former
37-year Boeing [NYSE: BA] employee, is among 17 aviation and
aerospace inventors being inducted into the National Inventors Hall
of Fame on May 3 in Akron, Ohio.

Rosen was selected for his pioneering work developing the world's
first 24-hour commercial communications satellite and his subsequent
contributions to satellite communications. As a founder of the modern
communications satellite industry, Rosen lead the team at Boeing
Satellite Systems in El Segundo, Calif. that developed Syncom, the
world's first synchronous communications satellite.

"Today's satellites that deliver video, voice and data communications
to an information-hungry world are all descendants of Syncom, which
Harold Rosen and his teammates built in 1963," said David Ryan, BSS
vice president and general manager. "When Harold Rosen and his
colleagues launched Syncom, they launched a revolution and changed
the world." 

From the early 20th century, theories held that an object placed over
the equator at a height of 22,238 miles and a speed of 6,878 mph
would match, or synchronize with, Earth's daily rotation. To a ground
observer, an object in this orbit would seem to stand still, thus the
term "geostationary." 

In 1959 at BSS, Rosen and his team of Donald D. Williams and Thomas
Hudspeth began work on a geostationary communications satellite. At
that time, communications satellites used low orbits and huge
swiveling ground antennas. Expensive tracking computers were needed
to stay in contact with them during the brief time they raced
overhead. In contrast, a synchronous satellite could communicate
directly and continuously with any ground station in its line of
sight, using fixed antennas. 

While the first Syncom was destroyed shortly after launch, Syncom 2
successfully reached synchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean on
July 26, 1963, and later that year relayed a live phone call between
President John F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C., and Nigerian Prime
Minister Abubaker Balewa in Africa. This was the first live two-way
call between heads of state by satellite relay.

A third Syncom satellite brought U.S. viewers live coverage of the
1964 Tokyo Olympics. The Syncom satellites remained active through
1966, far exceeding their one-year design life. As more-capable
successors joined them in space, they were decommissioned and retired
in April 1969. 

Reflecting on the significance of Syncom and the communications
technologies it spawned, Rosen says he is proud to have played a role
in creating the "global village."

"The whole world is much better connected now than ever before, and
the effect has been to bring people closer together," said Rosen.
"With hundreds of communications satellites orbiting the earth today,
satellite communications is deeply woven into the fabric of modern
life. 

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is
one of the world's largest space and defense businesses.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a
$25 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global
military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading
provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the
world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest
satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based
communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile
defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in launch
services. 

###

Contacts:
Richard Esposito
Boeing Satellite Systems
310-335-6314

Madonna Walsh
Boeing IDS News Bureau
314-234-1362

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