Air Force Successfully Launches Global Positioning System Satellite Built by Lockheed Martin

A Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite built by Lockheed
Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, CA, was successfully launched early
this morning from Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL. This was the fourth
successful launch of the new-generation replenishment spacecraft,
designated GPS IIR. The Company will supply 16 more of these
satellites to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los
Angeles Air Force Base, CA, over the next five years.

The satellite launched this morning is officially known as GPS
IIR-5, and will join 27 other operational GPS satellites now on orbit.
This satellite will improve global coverage and will increase the
overall health of the GPS constellation.

The Global Positioning System allows any user equipped with a GPS
receiver to determine velocity and worldwide position — latitude,
longitude and altitude — within a few meters. Both position data and
velocity are given at a precise reference time. Although originally
designed as a guidance and navigational tool for the military, GPS has
proven beneficial in the fields of transportation, surveying, as well
as search and rescue operations, and has created a tremendous demand
in new commercial and civil markets.

The GPS IIR satellites are compatible with the current system but
offer improved performance. Increased navigation accuracy and longer
autonomous satellite operation without ground control corrections will
improve service for the Air Force customer and other users.

In recent GPS IIR news, the President’s 2001 budget request,
unveiled earlier this year, builds in plans to accelerate GPS
modernization. The budget, if approved by Congress, will allow the
Space Systems team to provide improved capabilities sought by military
and civilian users of the navigation system much sooner than
previously envisioned. The new capabilities include additional
military and civilian signals, increased signal power and the ability
to reprogram spacecraft signals and power while on orbit. These
improvements will provide for better resistance to enemy jamming and
improved accuracy. Proposed work on the satellite modernization will
be performed at the Space Systems – Valley Forge, PA facility.

Additionally, the Air Force recently announced a decision to
initiate a new competition for the next generation GPS. The Space
System’s GPS team plans to participate in an architecture study to be
initiated this year, leading to a competition for the design and
production of the next series of GPS spacecraft, referred to as GPS
III.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems – Missiles & Space Operations,
Sunnyvale, CA, is an operating company within Lockheed Martin Space
Systems, headquartered in Denver, CO. It is a leading supplier of
satellites to military, civil government and commercial communications
organizations around the world. These spacecraft have enhanced
military and civilian communications; provided new, extensive and
timely weather data; studied the Earth and space; and furnished new
data for thousands of scientists studying our planet and the space
around it.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md, Lockheed Martin is a global
enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products
and services. The Corporation’s core businesses are systems
integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services.

For more information about Lockheed Martin Space
Systems-Sunnyvale, see our website at http://lmms.external.lmco.com