One of Asia’s Most Advanced Satellites Will Provide a Host of Broadcast Video and Networking Services for its Full 13-Year Design Life
NEW YORK – August 23, 2004 – – Loral Space & Communications today announced that Telstar 18, a powerful and flexible satellite designed to provide communication services across Asia, has completed its in-orbit testing and is now fully operational.
“With Telstar 18 joining Telstar 10 over Asia, Loral now operates two of the most powerful and strategically placed satellites in that region,” said Patrick Brant, president, Loral Skynet. “Telstar 18 covers a large area that stretches from Central Asia, through the Indian sub-continent, China, Korea, Japan, South East Asia, Australia and Hawaii. It offers our customers a strong footprint for intra-regional applications, as well as the ability to directly connect with the US.”
Built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) and operated by Loral Skynet, Telstar 18 was launched June 28, 2004 aboard a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket. During the launch, the rocket’s upper stage shut down early and placed the satellite in a lower than expected orbit. Engineers from SS/L, however, were able to raise the satellite to its proper orbital position at 138 degrees East longitude. The satellite still has sufficient on-board fuel to exceed its specified 13-year life.
Telstar 18’s users include well-known regional video and data providers, such as Smart Digital Communications Bhd, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and PSVN, Inc., which is based at the Hawaii Pacific Teleport. Loral’s other satellite over Asia, Telstar 10/APSTAR-IIR, hosts one of the largest video communities in Asia at 76.5 degrees East longitude.
In addition to transmitting innovative new applications, cable programming and direct-to-home broadcasting services, Telstar 18 is scheduled to begin hosting Skynet’s SkyReach(SM) two-way IP-based networking solution in 2005. SkyReach is already available and in use by customers throughout the Americas, allowing organizations to create an instant infrastructure using a VSAT network, connecting offices between cities or around the globe.
Telstar 18 carries a total of 54 active transponders, of which sixteen are high-power Ku-band transponders and thirty-eight are C-band transponders. In consideration for funding a portion of the satellite project’s cost, APT Satellite Company Limited, Hong Kong, will initially use 68.5 percent of Telstar 18’s transponder capacity for APSTAR-V services. The number of transponders used by APT will be reduced over time, ultimately to 54 percent of the satellite’s capacity. For more information on APT, visit www.apstar.com.
Telstar 18 is a version of SS/L’s space-proven 1300 satellite platform, which has an excellent record of reliable operation. The geostationary 1300 has a specified service life of 13 years and maintains station-keeping and orbital stability by using bipropellant propulsion and momentum-bias systems. In all, SS/L satellites have amassed more than 1,100 years of on-orbit service.
A pioneer in the satellite industry, Loral Skynet continues to deliver the superior service quality and range of satellite solutions that have made it an industry leader for more than 40 years. Through the broad coverage of the Telstar satellite fleet in combination with its hybrid VSAT/fiber global network infrastructure, Skynet is a source for all broadcast, data network, Internet access, IP and systems integration needs. Headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey, Loral Skynet is dedicated to providing secure, high-quality connectivity and communications. For more information, visit the Loral Skynet web site at www.loralskynet.com.
Space Systems/Loral is a premier designer, manufacturer, and integrator of powerful satellites and satellite systems. SS/L also provides a range of related services that include mission control operations and procurement of launch services. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company has an international base of commercial and government customers whose applications include broadband digital communications, direct-to-home broadcast, defense communications, environmental monitoring, and air traffic control. SS/L is ISO 9001:2000 certified. For more information, visit the Space Systems/Loral web site at www.ssloral.com.
Loral Skynet and Space Systems/Loral are both subsidiaries of Loral Space & Communications (OTCBB: LRLSQ).
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, 2003, entitled “Commitments and Contingencies,” 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
212/338-5345