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ILS Postpones Hellas-Sat Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 26, 2003 -- The scheduled March 14 launch 
of the Hellas-Sat satellite on an Atlas V vehicle has been postponed, 
International Launch Services (ILS) announced today.

Lockheed Martin has identified an issue with some welds on the aft 
bulkhead of the Centaur upper stage currently stacked on the booster. 
The delay will allow time to replace the Centaur with one already in 
the company's Denver, Colo., final assembly facility.

"We are doing everything we can to ensure mission success for our 
Hellas-Sat customer and are working diligently to recover the schedule 
impact to support the Hellas-Sat mission," said John Karas, vice 
president of Atlas and Advanced Space Transportation at Lockheed 
Martin Space Systems - Space & Strategic Missiles.

The Hellas-Sat launch, AV-002, was scheduled as the second flight of 
the next-generation Atlas V vehicle, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape 
Canaveral. A new date will take into consideration all necessary 
pre-launch tests, and every effort will be made to meet the customer's 
requirements.

Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Centaur is the most reliable,
efficient and accurate upper stage system in operation for more than 
40 years with over 160 space flight missions. Its flight record 
includes 63 current consecutive successful Atlas/Centaur missions over 
the past 10 years.

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Contact: Fran Slimmer, International Launch Services, McLean, Va.;
+1-571-633-7462; mobile: +1-646-229-4801; fran.slimmer{at}lmco.com.

Or

Joan Underwood, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo.,
+1-303-971-7398; pager: +1-800-745-8198; joan.b.underwood{at}lmco.com.

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