McDonnell Douglas Wins $400-Million Satellite Contract

McDonnell Douglas Corp. said Thursday that it has won a contract from Motorola Corp. valued at more than $400 million to launch 40 communications satellites for Iridium, a proposed mobile phone communications system.

While the contract will generate some new jobs at Vandenburg Air Force Base near Lompoc, Calif., the Iridium award will not affect employment in Huntington Beach, where McDonnell Douglas manufacturers the Delta rockets that will carry the satellites into space.

The $3.37-billion Iridium system is one of several competing systems that promise to deliver wireless, hand-held telecommunications services via satellites. McDonnell Douglas plans to use eight Delta II launch vehicles to place 40 satellites in orbit. Each rocket will carry five satellites into space. The Iridium consortium intends to use rockets from Russia and China to launch the remaining 26 satellites.

The Iridium contract is the largest commercial launch contract ever won by McDonnell Douglas. The company has been launching military versions of the Delta rocket for 16 years and has had 48 consecutive successful launches since 1986.

The Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International Corp. in Canoga Park will build the Delta II’s first-stage main engine. Aerojet’s Propulsion Division is Sacramento is building the second-stage engine.