Contact: John McCarthy
Loral Space & Communications
212/338-5345
SS/L to Build 40 New Batteries Under a Sub-Contract From Boeing NASA Systems
PALO ALTO, CALIF. – July 8, 2003 – Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary
of Loral Space & Communications (NYSE: LOR), today announced that it has won
a contract from Boeing NASA Systems, Houston, Texas, to build 40 replacement
batteries for the U.S. photovoltaic, or power-producing, module of the
International Space Station (ISS). These replacement units will be used as
spares or to replace older ISS batteries currently on orbit.
“SS/L has been a key contractor to Boeing for a variety of ISS related
projects over the past two decades, and we are very pleased to be continuing
that work at this critical time in the development of the International
Space Station,” said C. Patrick DeWitt, president of Space Systems/Loral.
The seven-year contract with Boeing NASA Systems calls for the delivery of
40 battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs), in addition to the 21 ISS
battery ORUs that SS/L is currently on contract to deliver to Boeing over
the next two years.
SS/L’s advanced nickel-hydrogen batteries are used to store electrical
energy for use during the 16 solar eclipse periods that the ISS encounters
during its daily orbits around the earth.
Since 1994, SS/L has manufactured more than 50 batteries for the final
on-orbit configuration of the Space Station. SS/L’s first batteries were
carried to the Space Station on November 30, 2000, aboard the Space Shuttle
Endeavor.
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 governmental customers whose
applications include broadband digital communications, direct-to-home
broadcast, governmental communications, environmental monitoring, and air
traffic control. SS/L is ISO 9001:2000 certified. For more information,
visit www.ssloral.com.
Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. Through
its Skynet subsidiary, it owns and operates a global fleet of
telecommunications satellites used by television and cable networks to
broadcast video entertainment programming, and by communication service
providers, resellers, corporate and government customers for broadband data
transmission, Internet services and other value-added communications
services. Loral also is a world-class leader in the design and manufacture
of satellites and satellite systems through its Space Systems/Loral
subsidiary. For more information, visit Loral’s web site at www.loral.com.
