Telesat, the world’s most experienced commercial satellite operator, today announced that it has authorized Hughes Space & Communications International to proceed with the construction of Anik F2, a highly advanced communications satellite that will carry broadcasting, telecommunications and multimedia services to customers across North America. The new satellite is scheduled for launch in late 2002. Hughes is also the manufacturer of Telesat’s Anik F1 satellite, which will go into space late this summer.
 
"Anik F2 will be the most advanced satellite Telesat has ever launched," said Larry Boisvert, Telesat’s president and CEO. "As the newest in Telesat’s fleet of satellites, Anik F2 will provide valuable capacity for North American customers with telecommunications, broadcasting and multimedia needs. And we are delighted to be working with Hughes, our partner on many successful satellite projects over the past three decades."
 
The Anik Fs are HS 702 satellites — the most powerful commercial model available today. Anik F2 will commercialize the use of the Ka-band, making it ideal for the delivery of multimedia services such as high-speed Internet, tele-medicine, tele-learning, tele-working and e-commerce. Anik F2 will also include C-band and Ku-band payloads to replace existing capacity on the Anik E satellites when they reach the end of their service lives.
 
Telesat has been aggressively expanding its business across the Americas. In February, the company began offering its service to US customers via Anik E1 and E2, its two main broadcast satellites. After Anik F1 goes into service this fall, Telesat will be operating six satellites over North and South America — Aniks C1, E1, E2, and F1, the Nimiq direct broadcast satellite, and MSAT-1. Last month, Telesat licensed Denver-based iSKY to use Ka-band multimedia capacity on Anik F2. Under the deal, valued at more than US$200 million, Telesat received a combination of cash and an ownership stake in iSKY.
 
About Telesat
 
With over thirty years of engineering and technical experience, Telesat is the world’s most experienced commercial satellite operator. The company made history in 1972 with the launch of the first domestic commercial communications satellite in geostationary orbit. Telesat now provides telecommunications and broadcast distribution services in the Americas and is a leading consultant, operator and partner in satellite ventures around the globe. Telesat is a member of the BCE Media group and a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc., one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies.
 
For more information:
 
Marilynn Wright
Telesat Canada
(613) 748-0123
 
Dan Tisch or Josh Cobden
Environics Communications
(416) 920-9000, ext. 260 or 275
dtisch@pr.environics.ca / jcobden@pr.environics.ca
 
*****
 
HUGHES SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
Public Relations Department
P.O. Box 92919 (S10/S323)
Los Angeles, CA 90009
Media Relations (310) 364-6363
Investor Relations (310) 662-9688
www.hughespace.com
 
HUGHES SELLS SECOND 702 SATELLITE TO TELESAT CANADA
 
Anik F2 is tenth for 702 Model
 
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 17, 2000 — Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC) today announced it has received its tenth order for its high-power Hughes 702 model spacecraft. Called Anik F2, it will be the 11th satellite to be built by Hughes for Telesat Canada.
 
Anik F2 will offer fixed satellite services, including Internet access and multimedia services, across North America using 108 active transponders, 52 of them in Ka-band.
 
HSC and Telesat Canada did not disclose financial terms. Anik F2 is scheduled to join its sister satellite, called Anik F1, sometime in late 2002. Anik F1, Telesat’s first 702 model, is scheduled for launch this summer.
 
"Our long-standing relationship with Telesat Canada is now well into the next generation of satellite communications," noted Tig H. Krekel, HSC President and CEO. "After 28 years of supplying quality Hughes 333 and 376 models, we are now supplying the powerhouse 702 satellites for the Telesat constellation. This second 702, Anik F2, includes the Ka-band for the first time, making it the largest and most powerful in the Anik fleet," Krekel added.
 
Anik F2 will provide high-speed Internet and multimedia services. The comprehensive Ka-band payload features inbound and outbound multibeam coverage of North America, and an onboard digital processor linking small terminals in Eastern and Western Canada via two spot beams.
 
"Anik F2 will be the most advanced satellite Telesat has ever launched," said Larry Boisvert, Telesat’s President and CEO. "Together, our two Anik F satellites will enable Telesat to provide valuable capacity for North and South American customers with telecommunications, broadcasting and multimedia needs. And we are delighted to be working with Hughes, our partner on many successful satellite projects over the past three decades."
 
"This new satellite will be developed through a strong partnership with Canadian industry and government," said Krekel. "For instance, the Ka-band payload includes an onboard digital signal processor from EMS Technologies, and COM DEV’s Beam* LinkTM units being developed under Canadian Space Agency sponsorship."
 
Anik F2 will operate from Telesat’s orbital slot of 111.1 degrees West longitude. In addition to Ka-band, Anik F2 will carry 24 C-band transponders and 32 Ku-band transponders and deliver 14 kilowatts of end-of-life payload power. To generate such high power, the two solar wings employ high- efficiency, triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cells. Anik F2 also carries Hughes’ flight-proven xenon ion propulsion system (XIPS) for all on-orbit maneuvering. Construction will occur in the HSC factory near Los Angeles International Airport.
 
Hughes introduced the 702 model in 1995, in response to customer requests for a high-power, high-capacity, multiple-payload satellite that could be delivered in minimum time and be launched on a variety of vehicles.
 
Hughes built the Anik A series of three Hughes 333 model satellites, the first of which was launched Nov. 9, 1972. (Anik means "little brother" in the Inuit language.) These carried 12 C-band transponders, and had just 300 watts of power. They were followed 10 years later by the Anik C and D series, which were Hughes 376 models built by Hughes and Spar Aerospace Ltd. of Toronto. The three Anik C spacecraft each carried 16 Ku-band transponders, and had 900 watts. The two Anik D satellites carried 24 transponders in C-band and generated 1000 watts. (Anik C1, the last Anik C satellite to be launched, is still operational. Launched April 12, 1985, it is scheduled for retirement in 2002. Anik C2 was retired in January 1998, 6.5 years beyond its 8-year intended service life. Both Anik D satellites have been retired.)
 
With more than 30 years of engineering and technical experience, Telesat is the world’s most experienced commercial satellite operator. The company made history in 1972 with the launch of Anik A1, the first domestic commercial communications satellite in geostationary orbit. Telesat now provides telecommunications and broadcast distribution services in the Americas and is a leading consultant, operator and partner in satellite ventures around the globe. Telesat is a member of the BCE Media group and a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc., one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies. For more information, please visit http://www.telesat.ca.
 
HSC is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, having built nearly 40 percent of those operating worldwide. It also supplies spacecraft for commun
ications and space exploration to the U.S. government, and builds weather satellites for the United States and Japan. HSC is a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation. The earnings of Hughes Electronics, a unit of General Motors, are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to the General Motors Class H common stock (NYSE:GMH).
 
IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www.hughespace.com/hsc_pressreleases/photogallery/anikf2/anikf2.html]
 
TENTH HUGHES 702 — Artist’s rendering shows Anik F2, the tenth Hughes 702 satellite to be ordered since the model was introduced in 1995. Anik F2 is the second Hughes 702 to be built for Telesat Canada. The satellite will have 14 kilowatts of payload power at end of life, and carry 108 active transponders, 52 in Ka-band, 32 in Ku-band and 24 C-band. The satellite will provide fixed satellite services to North America, including Internet access and multimedia services, from its orbital position of 111.1 degrees West longitude. Hughes Space and Communications Company is scheduled to ship Anik F2 for launch in late 2002.