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XTAR COMPLETES
SATELLITE GROUND CONTROL ARCHITECTURE
Agreements Reached with Spain's INSA to
Provide Ground Equipment and Loral Skynet to Provide Telemetry,
Tracking and Control Services
WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 11, 2002 - XTAR,
a joint venture between Loral
Space & Communications (NYSE:LOR) and HISDESAT, S.A.,
today announced that it has completed the design of a unique,
trans-Atlantic ground control system for its XTAR EUR satellite.
XTAR has contracted with Ingeniería y Servicios Aeroespaciales,
S.A. (INSA), a company owned by the Instituto Nacional de
Técnica Aeroespacial's (INTA), to provide a total of
two 6.3-meter X-band antennas, one 16-meter X- and S-band
antenna and related ground equipment to INTA's Maspalomas
ground station in the Canary Islands and HISPASAT's facilities
in Arganda, Spain. In addition, HISDESAT will provide on-site
maintenance and operations support at the two redundant facilities.
Engineers at Skynet's Hawley, Pa. earth station will operate
the XTAR EUR satellite through parallel terrestrial and VSAT
connections to the Canary Islands' Maspalomas ground station.
Backup telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) services
will be provided from Skynet's Three Peaks, Calif. earth station
and the Arganda site, near Madrid.
This unique system puts the TT&C of XTAR EUR into the
experienced hands of engineers at Loral Skynet's premier satellite
control facility, while satisfying the U.S. military's operational
requirements. Currently, Skynet's Hawley facility performs
TT&C operations for more than a dozen orbiting satellites,
including Loral's own Telstar fleet.
"XTAR continues to gain momentum as each piece of the
business gets set in place," said Bill Wright, president
of XTAR. "Loral Skynet and INSA have developed a unique
terrestrial/space satellite control system that gives XTAR
the advantage of using Skynet's world-class staff and facilities
in the U.S. to operate a satellite orbiting over the Middle
East."
XTAR EUR, to be launched in late 2003 into the 29 degrees
East longitude orbital slot, is currently under construction
at Space Systems/Loral
(SS/L), Palo Alto, Calif. The satellite is based on SS/L's
space-proven 1300 platform, and will feature multiple steerable
spot beams that allow it to follow its users as they travel
anywhere within the footprint of the satellite. The satellites
are designed to operate with existing and planned defense
communications terminals around the world.
"Our agreement with XTAR exemplifies the international
cooperation between XTAR and Spain's space industries,"
said Fernando Gonzalez, Director General, INSA. "As a
shareholder in HISDESAT and contractor to XTAR, INSA is able
to leverage its facilities and experience in government satellite
services to ensure the successful mission of the XTAR EUR
satellite."
Together with HISDESAT's SpainSat satellite, also under construction
at SS/L, XTAR EUR will be part of a network of commercial
X-band services available for use by the U.S., Spanish and
other allied defense establishments. The two satellites will
cover nearly two-thirds of the earth's surface, from North
America to Southeast Asia.
XTAR, LLC is a new defense satellite communications company
serving the communication needs of U.S., Spanish and allied
governments' operations. The company is a joint venture between
managing partner Loral, which owns 56%, and HISDESAT, the
remaining shareholder. XTAR is headquartered in Washington,
D.C., and has offices in Madrid, Spain and Palo Alto, Calif.
HISDESAT, S.A., headquartered in Madrid, is owned jointly
by Hispasat, S.A., the Spanish commercial satellite services
company, and other leaders of Spain's space industries - EADS-CASA
Espacio, INDRA, INSA and SENER. Hispasat has been providing
X-band services to the Spanish Ministry of Defense since 1992
and with this new project, HISDESAT will provide enhanced
capabilities, including X and Ka-band, for defense applications.
Loral Space & Communications
is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on
satellite-based services and satellite manufacturing, including
broadcast transponder leasing and value added services, domestic
and international corporate data networks, broadband data
transmission and Internet services.
# # #
This document contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. In addition, Loral Space & Communications
Ltd. or its representatives have made or may make forward-looking
statements, orally or in writing, which may be included in,
but are not limited to, various filings made by the company
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, press releases
or oral statements made with the approval of an authorized
executive officer of the company. Actual results could differ
materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking
statements as a result of a wide variety of factors and conditions.
These factors include those related to the filing, on July
15, 2003 by Loral and certain of its subsidiaries, of voluntary
petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of Title 11
of the United States Code in the United States District Court
for the Southern District of New York and parallel insolvency
proceedings in the Supreme Court of Bermuda in which certain
partners of KPMG were appointed as joint provisional liquidators.
Additional factors and conditions are also described in the
section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, entitled "Certain
Factors That May Affect Future Results," and the company's
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The reader is specifically referred to these documents.
Contact:
John McCarthy
Loral Space & Communications
212-697-1105
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