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Teledesic Signs With Lockheed
Bellevue - July 11, 1999 - Teledesic has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin, one of the world's leading aerospace companies and premier launch providers, to use two heavy-lift launch vehicles, the Proton M and the Atlas V, to launch a significant portion of Teledesic's satellite constellation. "Coupled with our completed and signed system agreement with Motorola, our launch contract with Lockheed Martin positions Teledesic on a strong and solid course to realize our vision of providing high-quality, global broadband network services," said Bill Owens, Teledesic's co-chief executive officer and vice chairman. Lockheed Martin markets the Proton M and Atlas V through International Launch Services (ILS) and its contracting entities Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International. ILS manages all tasks associated with providing launch services on the Atlas and Proton launch vehicles, including mission management, contract administration and other launch support. "On behalf of Lockheed Martin and our Russian partners, we at International Launch Services are extremely pleased to be selected as launch service providers for this important business," said ILS President Wilbur C. Trafton. "Specifically, this marks the first commercial sale of the Atlas V, as well as additional orders for the Proton M - both anchors of our future launch product offerings." The contract calls for three Proton launches and three Atlas launches, with options for five additional launches on each. Each launch vehicle will carry multiple Teledesic satellites per mission. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. In addition to the Proton M and Atlas V vehicles, Teledesic is evaluating other launch vehicles from leading providers around the world. Completed System Agreement
The contract is contingent upon Teledesic's approval that the system meets its requirements following a final technical review period, which is expected to be completed within three months. Details of the agreement and the enhanced system design will be made public after Teledesic and Motorola have completed this high-level review and finalized the program's major domestic and international subcontractors. "The completion of our system agreement with Motorola moves Teledesic into its next important phase - the actual development of our system," Owens said. "With Motorola leading our industrial team, we're confident we can tackle any challenges ahead. Already, we're working with Motorola to bring together the best subcontractors from around the world." Merle Gilmore, president of Motorola Communications Enterprise, said, "The signing of this agreement is further evidence of Motorola's continuing commitment and confidence in the future of commercial satellite communication systems. The Teledesic Network will have unique abilities to provide customers with complete end-to-end solutions on a global scale. As prime contractor to the Teledesic Network, Motorola will form and lead a world-class team of international industrial partners with proven experience in the design, construction and management of large networks." As a result of the completion of the system agreement, Motorola has made a $150 million cash payment to Teledesic. The payment is part of Motorola's previously announced investment in the company. In addition, Teledesic has made a down payment of $250 million to Motorola for its work as prime contractor. $1.5 Billion Raised Privately held Teledesic has made significant progress raising additional equity investments, bringing the total amount raised to more than $1.5 billion. Telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are the company's two primary founding investors. Strategic investors also include Motorola, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and The Boeing Company. "We have savvy investors who understand the unique merits of our business plan, including the differences between our services and markets and those of others," Owens said. "They also have a global perspective and understand that this is a long-term undertaking that will help serve an unmet worldwide need for broadband services." Using a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites, Teledesic is the first licensed satellite communications network that will enable affordable, worldwide access to "fiber-like" telecommunications services such as computer networking, broadband Internet access and interactive multimedia. Teledesic will deliver broadband data and value-added services over a global network optimized for the Internet Protocol that can guarantee end-to-end quality of service. Teledesic (pronounced "tel-eh-DEH-sic") is a private company based in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle.
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Teledesic has completed and signed its system agreement with Motorola, the company's prime contractor, after more than a year of close collaboration and detailed design work. Motorola is responsible for leading the engineering and construction of the Teledesic Network, the world's first advanced telecommunications network designed to provide high-speed data connections to businesses, institutions and individuals on a global basis.