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TITAN II SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES CORIOLIS MISSION FROM VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE

VANDENBERG AFB, CA, January 6th, 2003 -- A Lockheed Martin Titan II launch vehicle successfully placed the Coriolis mission into orbit this morning for the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy. The Titan II lifted off at 6:19 a.m. Pacific Time from Launch Complex 4W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Coriolis mission comprises two payloads: the Navy Windsat Radiometer (Windsat) and the Air Force Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI). Both payloads were successfully placed in a low Earth, sun synchronous orbit of 516 miles (830 kilometers). "We are extremely proud to be part of such an important program for the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy," said G. Thomas Marsh, president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles. "We are very pleased that the mission is off to such a successful start for our customers. The Titan team has done an outstanding job of readying the vehicle for launch today and the payloads were placed in orbit right on target,' added Marsh.

Today's mission marked the 12th consecutive successful Titan II launch. One more Titan II remains to be launched, which will complete the Titan II line of space vehicles that are refurbished intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Titan II ICBMs served as the vanguard of the United States' strategic deterrent for more than two decades. In the late 1960s, 10 Titan IIs also successfully launched astronauts as part of the Gemini program. When the Titan II ICBMs were decommissioned, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles, Calif., contracted with Lockheed Martin to refurbish 14 for use as space launch vehicles.

The Coriolis / Windsat / SMEI three-year mission will provide Defense Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather data users with important ocean wind and solar wind measurements -- improving forecasting around the globe while building important knowledge that will be used in developing the next generation of Polar-orbiting environmental satellites.

The U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command provided the Navy Research Lab-built Windsat radiometer. This microwave polarimetric radiometer will extract brightness temperature data from the microwave energy emitted by the ocean and will generate data products for downlink to earth stations.

The Air Force Research Lab at Hanscom AFB, Mass., is providing the Solar Mass Ejection Imager that will improve space weather forecasts by monitoring and warning of impending solar geomagnetic storms and magnetic fields. A geomagnetic storm can cause a wide range of problems that affect military and civilian spacecraft, ground-based communications and power distribution systems, degraded satellite communication and surveillance systems. Advanced warning of such storms would allow preventive measures to be taken to mitigate these effects. SMEI will be able to provide advanced warning of one to three days of impending geomagnetic storms.

Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles is a business unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is one of the major operating units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space Systems designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a variety of advanced technology systems for military, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include a full-range of space launch systems, including heavy-lift capability, ground systems, remote sensing and communications satellites for commercial and government customers, advanced space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.

Evan McCollum
Phone: 303-977-5937
Pager: 800-621-8063
evan.d.mccollum@lmco.com