ILS Launches at Record Pace

International Launch Services (ILS), which has amassed the
lion’s share of launch contracts in 2004, also is sending customers’
satellites into orbit at a record pace.

ILS has been conducting back-to-back launch campaigns since
November 2003, averaging one launch per month using either its
Lockheed Martin-built Atlas vehicle or its Khrunichev-built
Proton rocket. With six missions successfully completed to date, ILS
has launches on both vehicles planned for August. Three more are on
the manifest through the end of the year.

As quickly as the rockets are launching, ILS is taking in new
orders. ILS has been awarded a total of 11 missions this year for both
commercial and government customers, giving it 73% of the available
launches in its market. These contracts include missions for the U.S.
Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office, as well as the
world’s largest satellite operators and a variety of direct-to-user
service providers, such as DIRECTV, Intelsat, SES Global and Telesat.
Since the beginning of 2003, ILS has signed more new commercial
contracts than all its competitors combined.

“We’re having a great year,” said ILS President Mark Albrecht. “We
have the world’s two most reliable vehicles, launching at a regular
tempo that keeps the teams sharp. That’s how we are meeting the
customers’ demands for reliability and the flexibility to provide them
schedule assurance.”

The Atlas launch vehicle family has achieved 100 percent success
in 72 consecutive flights spanning 11 years. The Proton vehicle has a
96 percent success rate over its lifetime, which includes 307 launches
for ILS and the Russian government combined. The Atlas flies from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and the Proton launches from
Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

ILS, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Khrunichev State
Research and Production Space Center, was formed in 1995 to market and
manage the missions on the Atlas and Proton vehicles. ILS is based in
McLean, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

ILS has established itself as the indisputable launch services
leader by offering the industry’s two best launch systems. With a
remarkable launch rate of 64 missions since 2000, the Atlas and Proton
launch vehicles have consistently demonstrated the reliability and
flexibility that have made them the vehicles of choice.