Denver, Colo, 12-MAY-04 -- Lockheed Martin will mark another significant milestone in its Atlas program this week. The company will ship out the last of its Atlas II launch vehicles from its Final Assembly Building (FAB) near Denver, making more room for production of its next-generation Atlas V family of launch vehicles. More than a thousand Lockheed Martin employees will participate in a ceremony Friday, May 14, 2 p.m. mountain time in the FAB, along with invited guests, customers and Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

MEDIA ARE INVITED
The Atlas II ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, May 14, at Lockheed Martin's Launch Vehicle Final Assembly Building at its Waterton Facilities near Denver, Colo. News media should contact Joan Underwood at 303-971-7398 (office) or 800-745-8198 (pager) for accreditation and for escort to the event. Media should plan to arrive at the Waterton Main Gate at 1:15 p.m.

The event celebrates the heritage of the Atlas II series of launch vehicles, which boasts a 100 percent success record throughout 61 missions over the past 13 years. This workhorse of the American launch vehicle fleet has evolved into the larger, more powerful Atlas V series, which is also off to a flawless start in its three missions flown to date.

Atlas launch vehicles are built by an extraordinary team of men and women at Lockheed Martin operations in Denver, Colo.; San Diego, Calif.; and Harlingen, Texas. They are launched by the most experienced launch teams in the world at Lockheed Martin and International Launch Services, from east and west coast launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Since the first Atlas II launch in 1991, all 61 of the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS vehicles have successfully placed vital payloads into orbit for government and commercial satellite customers worldwide. The Atlas team has achieved a total of 71 consecutive successful Atlas missions with the team-wide motto of one launch at a time.

An Atlas IIAS is already at Cape Canaveral, being prepared for launch of a commercial communications satellite next week, May 19. The final Atlas IIAS which will be featured at the
May 14 ceremony in Denver, is scheduled to launch a national security payload June 30 from Cape Canaveral for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, headquartered near Denver, Colo., is one of the major operating units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space Systems Company designs, develops, tests and manufactures a variety of advanced technology systems for space and defense. Chief products include space launch systems, defense systems, interplanetary and science spacecraft, spacecraft for commercial and government customers, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.