First Production Boeing Delta IV CBC Arrives At Cape Canaveral.

Business Editors

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2001

The first production unit of the Boeing (NYSE:BA) Delta IV Common Booster Core (CBC) was unloaded from the Delta Mariner vessel here this morning.

The CBC recently completed a series

of critical hot fire tests at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The final test firing on May 6 ran for 303 seconds and completed a Delta IV Heavy mission profile simulation for the rocket's first stage. Having completed this rigorous test program, the first production unit will now be used to verify the structural and mechanical interfaces between the launch vehicle and the launch site. This will greatly reduce the schedule risk when the first flight booster arrives here this fall.

After arrival at Cape Canaveral, the fully integrated CBC was transported aboard the Elevating Platform Transporter for the trip to the Delta Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at Space Launch Complex 37. After the launch team uses it to verify operations in the HIF, the CBC will be transported to the launch pad for further verification testing this summer.

Photos of the CBC at Cape Canaveral can be found at: www.boeing.com/companyoffices/gallery/images/space/delta_iv/delta_ iv_cbc.htm.

The Boeing Company, with headquarters in Seattle, is the largest aerospace company in the world and the United States' leading exporter. It is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft, and the largest NASA contractor. The company's capabilities in aerospace also include rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, launch vehicles, and advanced information and communication systems. The company has an extensive global reach with customers in 145 countries and manufacturing operations throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.