Friday January 8, 4:36 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Loral Selected to Build Fifth in Series of High-powered Communications Satellites for Intelsat
Intelsat 905 to Provide Additional Capacity for Voice/Data, Video and Internet Services
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 1999-- Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NYSE: LOR - news), announced today that it has been selected to build the fifth in a series of high-power, ninth-generation satellites for the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT). SS/L also is building the first four satellites in this series in a program whose total value exceeds $600 million. The satellites, based on SS/L's model 1300 three-axis spacecraft, are designed to have a mission life in excess of 13 years.
INTELSAT 905 will be delivered in late 2001. The new satellite will provide additional capacity for voice/data, video and Internet services and will have the capability to serve either the Atlantic or Indian Ocean regions. The specific ocean area will be selected after the launch and deployment of the four INTELSAT IX satellites already on order from SS/L.
The first four spacecraft in the series, INTELSAT 901 through 904, are currently under construction and are scheduled to be delivered over a two-year period beginning in the summer of 2000.
Since 1980, SS/L, as prime contractor, has built or is building 29 satellites for INTELSAT. Over the years, the company has been the prime contractor on more INTELSAT programs than all other satellite manufacturers combined. INTELSAT 502 recently was retired from service after 17 years on orbit, well beyond its design life, a testimony to SS/L's reliability record.
Each of the five satellites in the INTELSAT IX series will operate 56 transponders -- 44 in the C-band and 12 in the Ku-band. The satellites will carry a significantly greater percentage of high-power amplifiers and solar array power than the spacecraft in any previous INTELSAT series.
INTELSAT owns and operates the world's most extensive global communications system. With forecasted 1998 revenues of approximately $1 billion, the INTELSAT system provides voice/data, video and Internet services to customers around the world. Further information on INTELSAT is available at www.intelsat.int.
Space Systems/Loral is a leading designer, manufacturer and systems integrator of both geostationary (GEO) and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, with more than 60 spacecraft currently in backlog. The company is the prime contractor for the Globalstar constellation of global telephony LEO satellites. Its GEO communications satellites include direct-broadcast, multimedia, broadband, and digital audio radio spacecraft; it also builds environmental science, weather-watch, and air traffic control spacecraft. SS/L is ISO-9001 certified. For more information, visit Space Systems/Loral's web site at www.ssloral.com.
Loral Space & Communications is a high technology company that primarily concentrates on satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services, including broadcast transponder leasing and value-added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, global wireless telephony, broadband data transmission and content services, Internet services, and international direct-to-home satellite services. For more information, visit Loral's web site at www.loral.com. |
