Multi-band Military and Commercial Satellite Begins Service

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a
subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (OTCBB: LRLSQ), today announced
that the Optus C1 communications satellite, built by SS/L under contract
from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation for SingTel Optus and the Australian
Department of Defence, has successfully completed a complex series of
in-orbit tests. The satellite, launched June 11 from the Spaceport at
Kourou, French Guiana, was handed over to Optus and the Australian
Department of Defence for operational service on July 18.

Optus C1 achieved geostationary orbit on June 20. In-orbit tests, conducted
by a combined team of Loral and Mitsubishi engineers, demonstrated
performance that accurately reflects the results of ground tests before
launch.

Optus C1 is one of the most advanced communications satellites ever built,
carrying a total of 16 antennas that provide 18 beams across Australia, New
Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as global beams covering a
large area from Malaysia to Hawaii. The advanced communications payload
operates in four different frequency bands — commercial services at
Ku-band, and military communications at UHF, X- and Ka-bands. The spacecraft
is operating from an orbital slot at 156 degrees East longitude.

Optus, a leading Australian telecommunications service provider, will use
the Optus C1’s Ku-band payload to distribute video, direct-to-home TV, and
telephony and Internet connections to remote areas.

For the Australian Department of Defence, the satellite’s Ka-band payload
provides high-data-rate broadcast coverage for video, and voice and data
communications. The X-band payload provides medium- to high-data-rate, voice
and data communications for land and maritime applications. The UHF payload
provides secure low-rate voice and data communications to mobile platforms.

Optus C1 is based on SS/L’s space-proven 1300 geostationary satellite
platform, which has an excellent record of reliable operation. The 1300 is
designed to achieve a long life, in this case in excess of 15 years. The
1300 achieves high stability by using bipropellant propulsion and
momentum-bias attitude control systems. A system of high-efficiency solar
arrays and batteries provide uninterrupted electrical power. In total, SS/L
satellites have amassed more than 1,000 years of on-orbit service. Total
satellite power will be approximately 10 kW at end of life, and the
spacecraft had a launch mass of nearly five metric tons.

Optus managed the procurement, together with the Australian Department of
Defence. Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO), the prime
contractor, teamed with SS/L, which designed, assembled, integrated and
tested the spacecraft at its California facility. SS/L also supplied the
Ku-band subsystem. MELCO was responsible for the overall payload.

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, defense 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.