With the sea-going
vessel Delta Mariner to arrive in Alabama for the first time, the
Boeing
Delta IV common booster core (CBC), built in Decatur,
will soon set sail to its new home at Space Launch Complex 37, Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

On Aug. 8, the 312-foot-long Delta Mariner will dock off Red Hat
road, about one-and-a-half miles from the Boeing Decatur facility.
While the vessel is docked, Boeing will test the loading process and
related hardware for two weeks. After that, the vessel will transport
to the Cape, the CBC, which makes up the first stage of the Delta IV
rocket.

For the Delta Mariner, this will be the first of many visits to
Decatur, as the Boeing Delta IV gears up for its inaugural launch
scheduled for early next year.

Among those to attend the event will be Gale Schluter, vice
president and general manager of Boeing Expendable Launch Systems.
Schluter said the partnership between Boeing and the people of
Alabama, is one of the major driving forces behind the progress in the
Delta IV program.

“We made the right decision when we selected Decatur as the home
of the Delta IV,” said Schluter. “Together we are building a future
for the Boeing Delta IV program and the space launch industry.”

Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, Col. Robert Saxer, director of U.S.
Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle system program, and Mike
Bunney, general manager of the Boeing Decatur facility, will join
Schluter for the event. After a tour of the ship, all four will be
available for media interviews.

The Delta Mariner was built by Halter Marine in Moss Point, Miss.,
for Foss Maritime of Seattle. The versatile transport vessel can
navigate shallow inland waterways as well as the open seas.

From the Boeing factory in Decatur, the ship will haul rocket
components some 550 miles down the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway to
Mobile Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico before rounding the Florida
peninsula toward the Cape. The ship will also provide future travel to
the western range Delta IV launch facility at Vandenberg, Air Force
Base, Calif., by passing through the Panama Canal.

The Boeing Co. is the largest aerospace company in the world and
the United States’ leading exporter. It is the world’s largest NASA
contractor and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and
military aircraft. The company’s capabilities in aerospace also
include rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket
engines 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.

Note to Editors: All media representatives must be assembled at
the customer parking lot in front of the Boeing facility in Decatur,
by 7:45 a.m. CDT, Aug. 8, 2001. The facility is located at 1001 Red
Hat Road in Decatur. Media representatives must provide credentials
upon signing in for the event.