McLEAN, Va., March 19, 2001 – International Launch Services (ILS) will launch an ICO satellite, built by Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. (BSS), in June on an Atlas IIAS vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The satellite is one of 14 currently being built by BSS for New ICO, and the first of eight ICO satellites scheduled to launch with ILS on its Lockheed Martin-built Atlas and Russian-built Proton rockets.

The ICO satellite is a Boeing 601 model, designed for medium-earth-orbit at an altitude of 10,390 kilometers (6,456 statute miles). New ICO will use it for initial testing of the integration of its space and ground systems.

"This is an important launch, not only because it's our first Atlas mission this year, but also because we have the opportunity to help ICO get its constellation going," said ILS President Mark Albrecht. "Our commitment to performance and reliability, and our string of 54 consecutive Atlas successes, are major factors in the choice of ILS for this mission."

ILS provides launch services to customers worldwide on both the American Atlas and the Russian Proton rocket families, including technical, management and marketing expertise.

ILS was formed in 1995, as a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International. Its Atlas rockets and their Centaur upper stages are built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company-Astronautics Operations at facilities in Denver, Colo.; Harlingen, Texas; and San Diego, Calif. The three-stage Proton is produced by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center at its factory near Moscow. The fourth stage is built by RSC Energia, also near Moscow. ILS offers the broadest range of launcher products in the world along with the highest reliability in the industry.