With a life span of about 15 years, the A2100 is compatible with a wide array of launch vehicles. Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Sunnyvale, CA, will build the Astrolink satellites at the Commercial Satellite Center using high-capacity packet-switched payloads manufactured by TRW Space & Electronics. Depending on consumer demand, the constellation may increase to as many as nine satellites.

Astrolink is a strategic venture with founding partners Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, Telespazio, a company of Telecom Italia, and TRW Inc.

A key benefit of Astrolink is dynamic bandwidth allocation, which allows customers to purchase as much or as little satellite throughput capacity as they require at a given time, instead of paying for a dedicated communications circuit. Currently, communications satellite users must pay for dedicated transponded circuits, whether they are used or not. With Astrolink, users will be able to transmit much more data much more affordably, and will not have to pay for idle time.

"We are excited to be a part of this revolutionary program and look forward to begin building the Astrolink satellite constellation. Astrolink is a pioneer of future broadband telecommunication services, just as Lockheed Martin pioneered the use of Ka-band frequencies which will be used by Astrolink," said Pete Kujawski, President of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems.

"We are pleased to have awarded the contract to Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. The A2100 satellite bus is one of the most competitive in the industry and it will help us lead the race to deploy the first of a new generation of flexible, reliable, high speed, global wireless data services," said Celso Azevedo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Astrolink.

"By exploiting the Ka-band, we will be able to provide much larger amounts of data for services such as corporate Intranets and video-on-demand with smaller antennas than current systems. Astrolink will offer the most state-of-the-art and cost-effective telecommunication services in the world," Azevedo said.

The Astrolink system will afford commercial subscribers global connectivity for a variety of applications. Providing much more than simply telephone, fax and data services, Astrolink offers access to applications that require high transmission rates, such as high-speed internet services, electronic transactions, video-on-demand, video teleconferencing, telemedicine, telecommuting and private networking capabilities.

The contract calls for TRW to design, build and provide engineering services for four satellite payloads, which TRW will supply to Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. The payloads consist of advanced electronics equipment, including antennas, digital processors and routers -- in short, all the hardware and software necessary to operate high-data-rate networks from space.

"This agreement is a key element of TRW's strategy to apply our advanced payload designs to the emerging, commercial broadband satellite communications market," said Timothy W. Hannemann, executive VP and general manager of the TRW Space & Electronics Group. "This new market opportunity is projected to represent approximately $300 million annually in sales for TRW over the next several years and continued sales growth thereafter.

"TRW developed the digital switching payloads for Milstar, the first operational `bandwidth-on-demand' satellite system," Hannemann added. "Our experience will help ensure that Astrolink is first to market with satellite-switched broadband services. Bandwidth-on-demand means that Astrolink customers will receive, and pay for, only the communications capacity they use rather than leasing a costly dedicated circuit."

"TRW has invested significantly in developing the Astrolink payload design. This contract demonstrates the vitality of our aerospace innovation and puts our production plans into high gear," Hannemann said. "With the projected growth of broadband satellite services, TRW's digital payloads business will provide as many as 1,000 jobs in coming years." Astrolink will focus on the high-growth area of global broadband data services, carrying traffic for Internet, intranet, multimedia and corporate data networks. Customers will be able to install small satellite dishes at businesses and homes, to connect quickly and inexpensively to high-speed networks. Astrolink will provide broadband, multimedia services to businesses and consumers worldwide beginning in 2003. Astrolink will market its services through Internet, telecom and information technology service providers around the world.