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Atlas V to Launch Wideband Gapfiller as ILS' 1st EELV Mission
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McLEAN, Va., Feb. 21, 2003 - International Launch Services (ILS) will 
launch a U.S. Air Force communications satellite on an Atlas V rocket 
as its first government mission under the Evolved Expendable Launch 
Vehicle (EELV) program.

The mission is the launch of Wideband Gapfiller Satellite #2 (WGS-2),
scheduled for no earlier than December 2004 from Cape Canaveral Air 
Force Station, Fla. This is the first of seven Atlas V launches 
awarded to ILS by the Air Force under the EELV program.

The Air Force authorized ILS this month to begin work to integrate the 
Atlas V vehicle with the spacecraft.

The Atlas V is produced by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., (NYSE: 
LMT) the latest generation in a long line of reliable rockets. It was 
developed both to meet Air Force EELV requirements and for ILS 
commercial missions.  Atlas V's highly successful first flight was 
last Aug. 21 with a commercial payload. The Atlas family of II, III 
and V series rockets boasts a record of 63 consecutive successful 
launches.

"I'm pleased to entrust this important national security spacecraft to 
the Atlas V," said Col. Sue Mashiko, head of the EELV program office 
at the USAF Space & Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles. "The perfect 
initial flight of Atlas V last summer, coupled with the Atlas family's 
incredible record of 63 consecutive successful launches, give us 
confidence that this satellite will be launched on time."

The Wideband Gapfiller Satellites are designed to augment defense
communications services currently provided by the Defense Satellite
Communications System (DSCS) and the Global Broadcasting Service 
(GBS), as well as provide a new high-capacity two-way Ka-band service 
in support of our nation's deployed forces.

"The Air Force was at our side during Atlas V development," said ILS
President Mark Albrecht, "and was side-by-side with our commercial 
customer at the first launch. We look forward to launching WGS-2 as 
the first dedicated Air Force mission on Atlas V."

The Atlas V family is the most powerful in the Atlas line, designed to 
lift payloads up to nearly 8700 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit 
(GTO). The Atlas V incorporates state-of-the-art designs, materials 
and processes. To support Atlas V missions, Lockheed Martin built a 
state-of-the-art launch complex at Cape Canaveral. The new site 
introduces the "clean pad" concept to U.S. launch capabilities for the 
first time, and consolidates the support operations into two 
facilities: the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) and the 
Vertical Integration Facility. The clean pad concept allows the Atlas 
V vehicle to be assembled, tested and mated with the encapsulated 
spacecraft away from the pad, thus allowing more flexibility in 
meeting customer needs.

ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. in the United States 
and Russian companies Khrunichev State Research and Production Space 
Center and RSC Energia. ILS offers the broadest range of launch 
services in the world along with products with the highest reliability 
in the industry. ILS' Atlas rockets and their Centaur upper stages are 
built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. - Space & Strategic 
Missiles, at facilities in Denver, Colo.; Harlingen, Texas; and San 
Diego, Calif.

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Contact: Fran Slimmer, ILS, 
McLean: 571-633-7462; 
mobile: 646-229-4801;
fran.slimmer{at}lmco.com
#03-03

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