U.S. AIR FORCE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES FINAL LOCKHEED MARTIN-BUILT DSCS III<br />SPACECRAFT<br /><br /><br />CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., August 29, 2003 -- The last in a<br />series of 14 Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft built<br />by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] for the U.S. Air Force was successfully<br />launched today from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. The DSCS constellation<br />supported military operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom and will<br />continue to provide vital communications links to U.S. and Allied Forces<br />around the globe well into the future.<br />The satellite, designated DSCS III B6, is a super high-frequency (SHF)<br />communications spacecraft that features Service Life Enhancement Program<br />(SLEP) upgrades designed to provide improved and uninterrupted secure voice<br />and high data rate communications to its Department of Defense users.<br />Additional SLEP upgrades on B6 will provide increased downlink power and<br />improved connectivity to its antennas. This satellite will join the 13 other<br />DSCS satellites on-orbit, including DSCS A3, which was launched successfully<br />on March 10, 2003, and already is operational.<br /><br />"For over two decades, the Department of Defense has entrusted DSCS to<br />provide reliable, secure, communications to deployed forces around the<br />globe," said Leonard F. Kwiatkowski, vice president, Lockheed Martin Space<br />Systems in Sunnyvale. " During this period, the system has consistently<br />demonstrated its capabilities, ensuring that vital information was delivered<br />into the right hands at the right time. We are very proud of this historic<br />milestone and the men and women who have contributed to the program's<br />tremendous legacy of success."<br /><br />Each DSCS III satellite has a design life of 10-years, although more than<br />half of the DSCS satellites on-orbit today have far exceeded their design<br />life expectancy and continue to perform with outstanding results. Last year,<br />the first DSCS III satellite, A1, reached 20 years on orbit. DSCS III A1 was<br />launched on Oct. 30, 1982 aboard a Lockheed Martin Titan 34D launch vehicle<br />from Cape Canaveral.<br /><br />Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, headquartered in Denver, Colo., is<br />one of the major operating units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space<br />Systems designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a variety of<br />advanced technology systems for military, civil and commercial customers.<br />Chief products include space launch and ground systems, remote sensing and<br />communications satellites for commercial and government customers, advanced<br />space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles<br />and missile defense systems.<br /><br />Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin employs about 125,000<br />people worldwide and is a global enterprise principally engaged in the<br />research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced<br />technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation reported 2002<br />sales of $26.6 billion.<br /><br /><br /># # #<br />Media Contact: Steve Tatum, 408-742-7531; e-mail, Stephen.o.tatum@lmco.com<br /><br />NOTE TO EDITORS: Low- and high-resolution JPEG image files of DSCS artist<br />renderings and the B6 satellite during pre-launch check out at Lockheed<br />Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif. are available at the following<br />URL: http://lmms.external.lmco.com/photos/military_space/ and click on DSCS.<br /><br />For more information about Lockheed Martin Space Systems -Sunnyvale, see our<br />website at http://lmms.external.lmco.com<br /><br />August 2003<br />03-34