Magellan Subsidiary's Satellite System Now in Reach of Many Consumers
10 December 1997
Orbital's Car Navigation System Priced Below $2,000; Magellan Subsidiary's Satellite System Now in Reach of Many ConsumersDULLES, Va., Dec. 10 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation's Magellan subsidiary continues to bring satellite navigation within reach of people everywhere with the announcement that its PathMaster(TM) automotive navigation product is now just $1,995. The new low price includes all equipment, one regional database cartridge and installation. More than 10,000 PathMaster units are installed in vehicles across the country, including 8,000 Hertz rental autos (under the name "NeverLost"), making PathMaster the leading vehicle navigation product in the U.S. The PathMaster system allows a driver to program a travel route by selecting from hundreds of local destinations including hotels, airports, hospitals, tourist attractions, other points of interest, and even individual street addresses. Once the route is set, PathMaster employs GPS satellite navigation, along with dead-reckoning and map-matching technology, to precisely locate the vehicle and provides visual displays and voice prompts to guide the driver, turn-by- turn, to the destination. The system consists of a small, color display screen which mounts in the car's passenger compartment; a central processing unit, direction sensor and satellite receiver which mounts in the trunk or some other out-of-the-way spot; and an inconspicuous antenna which enables GPS satellites to pinpoint the vehicle's position at all times. Installation time and complexity are about the same as that of a standard cellular phone, and the system begins working immediately upon installation. Markets that Magellan is pursuing for sales of driver information systems include private passengers, motoring tourists, field sales and service personnel, government agencies, public safety departments, utilities, real estate professionals and others who use an automobile in the course of their work. The current PathMaster and follow-on products will be sold through Magellan's existing network of specialty retailers as well as automotive aftermarket stores, automobile dealerships and directly to government and private fleets. For information on the PathMaster system, a customer service representative at Magellan's Driver Information Systems unit in Rochester Hills, Mich., at 800-823-2546 is available to help. Orbital recently announced that it would merge its Magellan subsidiary, the world's leader in low-cost GPS navigation and satellite communications products, with over 1,000,000 units sold worldwide, with Ashtech Inc., a strong supplier of advanced-technology precision GPS positioning units. As a result of this merger. which is expected to be completed in December, Magellan will offer the broadest range of satellite navigation and communications products of any company in the world. They include personal-use units for the automotive, aviation, outdoor recreation, and other consumer markets, as well as professional-use products for surveying, mapping and geographic information systems work. Orbital is a space and information systems company that designs, manufactures, operates and markets a broad range of affordable space infrastructure systems, satellite access products and satellite-provided services, including launch vehicles, satellites, space sensors and electronics, satellite ground systems and software, satellite-based navigation and communications products, and satellite-delivered fixed and mobile communications and Earth imaging services. NOTE: To learn more about Orbital Sciences Corporation and to access recent press releases, visit the company's Web site at http://www.orbital.com. SOURCE Orbital Sciences Corporation