In 1953, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) was formed, and Hughes Aircraft reformed as a subsidiary of the foundation. The charity status of the foundation allowed Hughes Aircraft to avoid taxes on its huge income.
In 1961, the two Aerospace Group divisions were reformed as Hughes Space and Communications Company. Hughes Space and Communications Company launched the first geosynchronous communications satellite, Syncom, in 1963.
On 5 April 1976, Howard Hughes died at the age of 70, leaving no will. In 1984, the Delaware Court of Chancery appointed eight trustees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, who decided to sell Hughes Aircraft to General Motors for US$5.2 billion—this transaction was completed in 1985. GM merged Hughes Aircraft with its Delco Electronics unit to form Hughes Electronics. This group then consisted of:
Delco Electronics Corporation
Hughes Aircraft Company
Hughes Space and Communications Company
Hughes Network Systems
DirecTV
In 1995, Hughes Space and Communications Company became the world's biggest supplier of commercial satellites. In 1997 GM transferred Delco Electronics from Hughes Electronics to its Delphi Automotive Systems and later in the year sold the aerospace and defense operations of Hughes Electronics (Hughes Aircraft) to Raytheon.
Hughes Space and Communications Company remained independent until 2000, when it was purchased by Boeing and became Boeing Satellite Development Center.
In 2005, Boeing Satellite Systems sold Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices to L3 communications. L3 merged its multiple Microwave tube companies L3 Electron Technologies (Torrance, CA), L3 Electron Devices (San Carlos, CA), California tube labs (Watsonville, CA) and L3 Electron Devices (Williamsport, PA) under one name, L3 Electron Devices. After merging with Harris Corp., multiple microwave tube companies survived as L3Harris Technologies, Electron Devices and eventually became Stellant Systems.
The purchase of Hughes Space and Communications Company in 2000 gave Boeing an impressive range of products for design, manufacture, launch and support of satellites. This was in addition to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' other space assets, e.g. Delta launch vehicles, older-generation GPS satellites, and Rocketdyne and Rockwell's space operations (which include much of the hardware used in NASA's crewed space program, such as the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, rocket engines, etc.)
