The father of hardy satellites

The longevity of satellites (“Satellites’ longevity limits sales,” Dec. 1) comes as no surprise to those of us who take utmost pride in the pioneering work of having designed, built, tested, launched and operated these unique and complex machines.

It is extremely unfortunate, however, that a revisionist history continues to be perpetuated that fails to acknowledge that all of these long-lived satellites were actually the creation of Hughes Space and Communications, which was acquired by Boeing in 2000.

Steve Lawrence

West Los Angeles