Skip to content
Author
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Martin Marietta Corp. said it would launch a communications satellite for Federal Express Corp. in 1989. The announcement marked the first word of a contract for a privately launched rocket since the government slashed its role in the commercial payload business. Transportation Secretary Elizabeth H. Dole said, ”This is proof that the private sector is ready to take on the challenge of providing transportation to space on a commercial basis.”