Merger Puts Boeing Back In The Satellite Business Company Poised To Become ‘Showcase’ For The Space Industry
When a Delta II rocket lifts off this weekend from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California, it will mark a turning point in The Boeing Co.’s effort to become a major player in space.
Sunday’s launch, scheduled for 5:55 p.m. PDT, will loft five Iridium satellites out over the Pacific and into a polar orbit.
Iridium, a consortium led by Motorola, already has launched 17 of the 72 satellites it needs to create a global wireless telephone, data, and paging system. And while the Southern California launches are spectacular, they’re nothing new - except for Boeing.
Just in the last few days, with the Delta II on the launch pad, a large “Boeing” decal was placed on the side of the rocket, replacing one that read “McDonnell Douglas.”
Last month, Boeing completed its 15 billion takeover of rival McDonnell Douglas Corp., and with it acquired McDonnell’s Delta booster program and related launch contracts. The merger followed Boeing’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Rockwell International’s defense and space business in December.
Although attention during the McDonnell Douglas merger was focused on Boeing’s dominance in the commercial airliner business, company officials say space may offer the biggest opportunity for growth.
Boeing is about to become a “showcase for the world” in the space business, said Jay Witzling, director of the Delta program for Boeing in Huntington Beach, Calif.
As a result of the merger with McDonnell Douglas, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration became Boeing’s biggest government customer. NASA contracts account for nearly a third of Boeing’s space business.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the International Space Station. McDonnell Douglas had been its major subcontractor, building the framework for the station. Boeing has taken over support of the Space Shuttle.
Boeing sees the largest opportunities, however, in commercial space - specifically, launching telecommunications satellites like Iridium’s.
Boeing recently agreed to invest $100 million in Teledesic, a venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Craig McCaw, the cellular telephone industry billionaire. Teledesic plans to launch hundreds of satellites for a $9 billion global Internet communications system.
Boeing also is a partner in Sea Launch, which will begin launching communications satellites next year from a floating platform in the Pacific.
“The telecommunications business is exploding,” said Gale Schluter, vice president of Boeing’s Huntington Beach facility. “Over the next few years, our business will shift more and more into launch vehicles.”
The Delta II rocket that will launch the Iridium satellites was built by McDonnell Douglas at its Huntington Beach plant. Its engines were built a few miles away in Canoga Park by Rocketdyne, a former Rockwell International division that is now part of Boeing. Rocketdyne also builds the Space Shuttle’s main engines.
Under Boeing’s new organization, the Huntington Beach and Canoga Park plants are part of Boeing Space Systems.
Boeing plans six more Delta II launches this year and 17 in 1998, from either Vandenberg or Cape Canaveral. Boeing also has sold 18 launch slots to satellite makers Hughes and Loral for the Delta III booster.
Beyond that, Boeing is working on the Delta IV, its proposal for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are competing to win a $2.4 billion contract from the Air Force for the new generation of relatively inexpensive rocket boosters. The Air Force will pick the winner next June.