Atlas V to Launch Wideband Gapfiller as ILS’ 1st EELV Mission

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.,
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.