Posted: Tue, Oct 30, 2001, 1:21 PM ET (1821 GMT)
Lockheed Martin will shut down its multi-billion dollar Astrolink satellite program, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The Journal article claimed that Lockheed Martin and its partners — TRW, Telecom Italia, and Liberty Media — had failed to find additional funding for the $3.7 billion project. Astrolink will suspend all work on satellites currently under construction and lay off or reassign those working on them. Astrolink, started in 1999, was one of several projects in the works to provide broadband Internet access via satellite; Astrolink was to begin operations in 2003. Lockheed Martin had invested $400 million into Astrolink, according to the Journal, with the partners investing nearly $1 billion more.

Related Links:

•  Reuters article
•  Astrolink