spacetoday.net: Business briefs: July 1

Posted: Tue, Jul 2, 2002, 7:49 AM ET (1149 GMT)

The US Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $251 million contract Monday to support the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The contract covers maintenance and testing of the DMSP spacecraft as well as launch services and on-orbit support. The contract runs through the end of 2012.
Intelsat has decided to postpone its initial public offering of stock until at least this fall, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The article said that Intelsat "quietly" informed Wall Street last week of its plans to delay its IPO. Inmarsat, Eutelsat, and SES Global have also delayed plans for US IPOs, citing weak market conditions and a lack of investor interest.
XM Satellite Radio reported Monday that it had 136,500 subscribers by the end of the second quarter, exceeding predictions by Wall Street analysts. The company says it remains on track to have 350,000 subscribers by the end of 2002, although analysts estimate that the company needs several million subscribers before it can break even.