Orbital's Magellan Subsidiary Purchases Rockwell Car Navigation Systems Group
4 August 1997
Orbital's Magellan Subsidiary Purchases Rockwell Car Navigation Systems Group
PathMaster Acquisition Launches New Automotive GPS Product Line
DULLES, Va., Aug. 4 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation
announced today that it is entering the $1 billion per year
market for Global Positioning System (GPS)-based private passenger automobile
navigation products with its purchase of the popular PathMaster(TM) product
line from Rockwell International Corporation. PathMaster is currently
installed in more than 10,000 cars in the United States, including 8,000 Hertz
rental automobiles (where it is referred to as the "Never Lost" system), and
is sold to individual consumers through a nationwide network of dealers.
The former Rockwell business unit, employing approximately 30 people in
Troy, Michigan, will become the new Driver Information Systems unit of
Orbital's Magellan Corporation subsidiary. Mr. Roger Stevens will head the
new division as Vice President and General Manager, reporting to Mr. Randy
Hoffman, Orbital's Executive Vice President for Satellite Access Products and
President of Magellan.
Mr. Hoffman said, "This acquisition is a fantastic strategic fit for
Orbital, as we continue to lead the way in bringing space-based technologies
into the everyday lives of millions of people around the world. We plan to
leverage Magellan's widely known brand name and reputation for high-quality
into greater sales opportunities for PathMaster and its successor products."
The PathMaster system allows an automobile 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
satellites, dead-reckoning and map-matching technologies to precisely locate
the vehicle, and uses visual and voice prompts to guide the driver, turn by
turn, to the destination.
Orbital's Magellan subsidiary is an industry leader in the design,
manufacture and sale of a variety of consumer satellite navigation and
communications products for aviation, marine and outdoor recreation markets.
It introduced the world's first commercial hand-held GPS receiver in 1989 and
the world's first hand-held satellite communications device in 1997.
The acquisition of PathMaster rounds out Magellan's product offerings and
enhances its already strong competitive position in fast-growing GPS-based
applications such as vehicle navigation. The U.S. GPS Industry Council
estimates the market for automotive navigation systems to be over $1 billion
in 1997 and expects it to grow by 40 to 50% a year, becoming a $3-plus billion
market by the year 2000. Japan is the largest market today for such products,
with over 1.5 million car navigation units installed, followed by the U.S. and
Europe.
In addition to private passenger car and rental fleets, markets for
PathMaster include field sales and service personnel, public safety
departments, utility companies, real estate professionals and others who use
an automobile in their course of work. PathMaster will be sold through
Magellan's existing network of specialty retailers, as well as through
automotive after-market stores and automobile dealerships, along with direct
sales to private and government fleets.
Mr. Hoffman also described the PathMaster acquisition as Orbital's "launch
platform" for a range of new GPS products providing driver information and
security services, which will become part of the nation's Intelligent
Transportation System being promoted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
"Two excellent examples of space-based 'information superhighway' technologies
with the potential to help people more efficiently and safely navigate U.S.
highways are the new ORBCOMM global satellite data communications service and
the emerging digital radio broadcast services -- both of which could be linked
to PathMaster to provide real-time driver information for more efficient and
secure travel," said Mr. Hoffman.
Orbital's purchase of the Rockwell unit, which became effective July 31,
1997, includes intellectual property and core technology, a full inventory of
existing products and those now under development, and an experienced
engineering and product management team with particular expertise in vehicle
positioning, guidance and tracking; GPS, dead-reckoning and map matching;
display electronics; digital mapping; ASIC design; and human factors for
drivers and vehicles.
Orbital is a space and information systems company that designs,
manufactures, operates and markets a broad range of affordable space and
ground infrastructure systems, satellite access products and satellite
services. These include launch vehicles, satellites, space sensors and
instruments, satellite ground systems and software, satellite-based navigation
and communications products, and satellite-delivered communications and
Earth-imaging services.
SOURCE Orbital Sciences Corporation