NASA Awards ILS and Atlas V Mission to Pluto in 2006

NASA Awards ILS and Atlas V Mission to Pluto in 2006

McLEAN, Va., July 24, 2003 - NASA has chosen the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
Atlas V rocket, offered by International Launch Services (ILS), to launch
the Pluto New Horizons mission in January 2006.

The mission as proposed is a scientific reconnaissance of Pluto and its
moon, Charon.

The selected vehicle is the Atlas V 551 configuration, with a 5-meter
fairing and multiple solid rocket motors. This is the most powerful version
of the Atlas rocket family, with a lift capability ranging up to19,100
pounds to geosynchronous orbit. There have been three Atlas V missions since
the rocket debuted last August, with the most recent being the Rainbow 1
launch last week, on an Atlas V 521 vehicle.

The space agency awarded the mission to ILS under the terms of the NASA
Launch Services contract signed in 2000. This agreement was designed to be
the primary way for NASA to procure launch services on the highly reliable
Atlas rocket through 2010. Atlas vehicles have achieved the phenomenal
record of 100 percent success in 66 consecutive flights. NASA last year
selected an Atlas vehicle to launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in
August 2005.

"We are thrilled that NASA chose the Atlas V vehicle to launch the Pluto New
Horizons mission," said ILS President Mark Albrecht. "Such high-value
scientific missions require the time-critical and reliable access to space
that Atlas has proven it can deliver."

Albrecht noted that the Atlas V is the only American medium-to-heavy-lift
vehicle serving both the government and commercial markets. "The award of
the Pluto New Horizons mission further solidifies the Atlas V business base
with a mix of government and commercial missions, demonstrating the
continued confidence in Atlas V by both communities," Albrecht said.

Since 1959, Atlas vehicles have flown 124 missions for NASA, including the
majority of all U.S. interplanetary spacecraft. Last year, the Atlas IIA
vehicle successfully lofted two Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS)
for NASA.

The launch services contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin Commercial
Launch Services, the contracting affiliate of International Launch Services.
ILS is a joint venture formed in 1995 to market the Lockheed Martin Atlas
launch vehicle and the Proton vehicle built by Khrunichev State Research and
Production Space Center of Russia.

The Atlas rockets and Centaur upper stages are built by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems Company at facilities in Denver, Colo.; Harlingen, Texas; and
San Diego, Calif. Atlas launch operations are conducted at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, Fla., and Vandenberg Air force Base, Calif.

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Contact: Fran Slimmer, International Launch Services, McLean, Va.;
1-571-633-7462; .


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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info

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