To:
Space Systems Company Atlas Employees
Date:
Sept. 19, 2005
From:
Michael Gass, Vice President and General Manager, Space Transportation
Subject:
United Launch Alliance (ULA) Update
The Atlas team joins the entire Lockheed Martin Corporation in remembering our Michoud and Stennis
Space Center friends and colleagues with thoughts and prayers as they deal with the devastation caused by
Hurricane Katrina. We all stand ready to provide whatever support we can as our teams at these facilities
assess damages and employees in the areas start on the long road to recovery.
Here in Denver and in Huntington Beach, dedicated teams of Lockheed Martin and Boeing employees
continue to make progress toward the targeted closing in early October for United Launch Alliance, pending
successful conclusion of the regulatory review by the U.S. government.
In approximately one to two weeks, each ULA employee will be mailed a welcome package from their
manager containing information and attachments that must be completed prior to starting work for the new
joint venture. Additionally, your leadership will be receiving a data package that provides key dates and
information in order to help answer any questions pertaining to these attachments. If you still have questions
after discussing this information with your manager, feel free to contact your local HR representative.
In addition, a summary of Your 2005 ULA Benefits and a 401k open enrollment package will be mailed to
your home address a few days after mailing of the welcome package.
Planning is under way for the first week we are in operation for a series of trips to all ULA sites so that Dan
Collins and I can meet with employees. The leadership team met on Aug. 25 and drafted several important
documents that will serve as guiding principles as we begin ULA operations. Sharing our vision, mission
statement and core values will be a large part of those site visits.
We continue to receive numerous questions on pensions, benefits, compensation, vacation and other policy
issues. The latest group of questions and answers was posted on the ULA web site Sept. 7. Since then,
there have been some retirement benefit questions raised about those employees who transferred from
General Dynamics. If you are a salaried Lockheed Martin employee who transferred from General
Dynamics/Space Systems on May 2, 1994, your Lockheed Martin Retirement Program benefit for service
before that date will continue to be determined using the General Dynamics benefit formulas for which you
were eligible, with final average pay that is calculated using the highest five consecutive years of the last 10
years of pay at your termination date. For this purpose, pay is defined as it is for your other Lockheed Martin
pension benefits. The benefit will be reduced by the pension benefit payable by General Dynamics.
This provision will continue to apply after your transfer to ULA, even if the amount of your pension benefit
payable by the General Dynamics plan is reduced because of your transfer to ULA, including any reduction
because your GD benefit was based on a vested term reduction factor rather than the 85-point calculation. If
eligible, any early retirement supplement that may be payable will be based on your service with General
Dynamics and Lockheed Martin
Regarding continuing benefits questions, Chris Rasmussen is available to address individual considerations.
Her number is 303-977-4460 or mailto:chris.k.rasmussen@lmco.com.
Finally, we wish our Boeing colleagues success as they continue to prepare for critical missions on Delta IV
and Delta II. The launch processing flow for AV010 has begun, and we must maintain focus on the Pluto
New Horizons mission that will launch early next year.