Lockheed Martin-Built VINASAT-1 Satellite Launched Successfully for Vietnam Posts...

Lockheed Martin-Built VINASAT-1 Satellite Launched Successfully for Vietnam
Posts and Telecommunications Group

KOUROU, French Guiana, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The VINASAT-1
communications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
for Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) of Vietnam, was
successfully launched today from Kourou, French Guiana. Lift-off occurred at
6:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) aboard an Ariane 5-ECA launch vehicle
provided by Arianespace of Evry, France. Initial contact with the satellite
was confirmed at 7:30 p.m. EDT from Lockheed Martin's satellite tracking
station in Uralla, Australia.
VINASAT-1 is based on Lockheed Martin's A2100A spacecraft platform and
features 12 operating Ku Band transponders providing coverage over Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and part of Myanmar. The spacecraft also features 8
C-Band primary transponders providing coverage over Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
Southeast Asia, India, Japan and Australia. It is designed for a minimum
service life of 15 years and will be located at orbital slot 132 degrees east.
"Lockheed Martin is extremely pleased to deliver the first satellite
system procured by the nation of Vietnam," said Vice President & General
Manager Marshall Byrd. "From the beginning of the VINASAT-1 program in May
2006, Lockheed Martin and VNPT have worked together in a successful
collaborative relationship to ensure on-time delivery of the satellite.
Lockheed Martin values VNPT as an important business partner and is proud of
the trust that VNPT has placed in Lockheed Martin."
The turnkey satellite system is expected to improve telecommunications in
Vietnam by transmitting radio, television and telephone communications to all
corners of the country. The spacecraft will enable state-of-the-art
communications, providing the Vietnamese people the opportunity to use
multiple new services such as mobile broadcasting, direct-to-home television,
video conferencing and data transmission. VINASAT-1 will also improve the
nation's communication networks infrastructure by removing dependence on
ground networks and allowing 100% of Vietnam's rural communities to be
equipped with telephones and televisions.
"The launch of VINASAT-1 is very timely for us," said VNPT Vice President
Bui Thien Minh. "The Vietnamese economy is well on its way to becoming fully
integrated with the world economy, and VNPT requires a completed
telecommunications network to increase our market growth. Customers want to
be offered all options for their communication needs."
In addition to VNPT, Lockheed Martin has delivered 18 spacecraft to Asian
customers, including eight A2100 satellites. The Lockheed Martin A2100
geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of
telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services,
fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band, high-power direct broadcast
services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum and mobile satellite services
using UHF, L-band, and S-band payloads. The A2100's modular design features a
reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability
and reduced weight and cost.
The A2100 spacecraft's design accommodates a large range of communication
payloads. This design modularity also enables the A2100 spacecraft to be
configured for missions other than communication. The A2100 design is
currently being adapted for geostationary earth orbit (GEO)-based earth
observing missions and is currently the baselined platform for Lockheed
Martin's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R (GOES-R)
proposal. The A2100 also serves as the platform for critical government
communications programs including Advanced Extremely High Frequency and Mobile
User Objective System and is the foundation for Lockheed Martin's
Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) offering for the U.S.
Government.
About VNPT Group
The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) (http://www.vnpt.com.vn)
is a leading economic group in Vietnam, which boasts modern technological and
managerial skills and high level of specialization. VNPT involves in
multi-businesses and multi-sectors, of which posts, telecommunications and IT
are major. VNPT applies different types of ownership in its businesses, while
at the same time maintaining a close combination between business and science
and technology, R&D and training. VNPT has set up co-operative relationships
with hundreds of foreign partners, and has opened its branch in the US.
VNPT has about 90,000 employees. VNPT generated a revenue of VND
45.8 trillion in 2007, earning a profit of over VND 14 trillion.
About Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems is a unit of Lockheed Martin
Space Systems Company. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major
operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests,
manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for
national security, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include
human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation,
meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space
observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; fleet ballistic
missiles; and missile defense systems.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000
people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design,
development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology
systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2007 sales of
$41.9 billion.
Media Contacts:

Nguyen Hong Thao, +84 4 9436494; e-mail, thaonh@vnpt.com.vn

Dee Valleras, +1 215 497 4185; e-mail, dee.valleras@lmco.com

For more information about VNPT, see www.vnpt.com.vn/.

For more information about Lockheed Martin, see
www.lockheedmartin.com.
SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Dee Valleras of Lockheed Martin, +1-215-497-4185, dee.valleras@lmco.com; or
Nguyen Hong Thao of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, +84 4 9436494,
thaonh@vnpt.com.vn