NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 1998--
Europe*Star Extends Loral's Global Alliance Strategy
Loral Space & Communications LOR and Alcatel Alsthom of France today announced that they will jointly build and operate Europe*Star, a multiple geostationary satellite system that will provide broadcast and telecommunications services to nearly half the world -- from Western Europe to Southeast Asia, including Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and India, as a part of a global network of operating companies that will use a common marketing
strategy to provide customers "one stop shopping" for local, regional, and global satellite services.
Europe*Star will join Loral Skynet's "Global Marketing Alliance," a worldwide sales and marketing coalition comprised of Loral Skynet, Satelites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. (SatMex), and Orion Network Systems, Inc. As such, Europe*Star's satellite services and capacity will be also globally-marketed by other Loral alliance members through Loral Skynet's global booking service.
"Europe*Star will be a splendid addition to Loral's ever expanding global network of satellite services," said Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and chief executive officer of Loral Space & Communications. "This development puts Loral solidly on track as being the world's leading provider of global satellite services."
The three-satellite Europe*Star system, ideally located between Europe and Asia at 43!, 45!, and 47.5 !, will be the first European Ku-band satellite system to be able to directly connect Europe and Asia in one single hop -- providing telecommunications, high-rate data interchange (Internet, on-line service access), and television and distribution services.
Alcatel Espace of Toulouse, France, will serve as the prime contractor of the Europe*Star turnkey system. Space Systems/Loral, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, will build the bus, and test and integrate the satellites at its Palo Alto, Calif., facility. Alcatel Espace will provide the payload. Overall project costs for the first satellite are estimated at approximately $300 million.
"The Europe*Star program perfectly illustrates the capacity of Alcatel to promote and develop complete end-to-end space communications systems, in the framework of international cooperation," said Alain Roger, chief executive officer of Europe*Star.
Europe*Star's satellite operations will be provided from Alcatel's facilities in Toulouse, France, with the support of Loral Skynet's satellite control facilities in Hawley, Pa.
Europe*Star was first initiated by Dr. Schulte-Hillen, chairman of Scientific Consulting GmbH in Cologne, Germany, who filed for orbital positions with German authorities in 1991. Alcatel joined the project in early 1996.
Loral Skynet of Bedminster, New Jersey, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, is a leading satellite communications service provider that owns and operates the Telstar satellites. Loral Skynet's customers use satellite transponder capacity to distribute network television programming, collect live video feeds for the reporting of news and events, and to offer direct-to-home and pay-per-view programming, distance learning,
educational, and other business television services. Loral Skynet also provides technical consulting, as well as tracking, telemetry, and control of satellite fleets for a wide variety of customers. Loral Skynet operates Telstar 4 and the recently launched Telstar 5, which provides C-band and Ku-band coverage over the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Through the recent privatization of Mexico's satellite operations, Loral, through Loral Skynet, also manages Satelites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. (SatMex). SatMex currently operates 3 satellites, Solidaridad 1, Solidaridad 2 and Morelos II. Morelos III, scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 1998, will replace Morelos II. Loral Skynet's vigorous growth plan includes future launches of Telstar 6 and 7, which are expected to be in service in 1998
and 1999, respectively, and Telstars 8 and 9, to be in service shortly thereafter.
Loral Space & Communications is a high-technology company that concentrates on satellite manufacturing and global satellite-based services. In addition to Loral Skynet and SatMex, Loral owns Space Systems/Loral, a leading manufacturer of commercial communications and weather satellites. Loral manages and holds a 39 percent equity interest in Globalstar, the global, mobile satellite-based telephony system scheduled for service initiation in the first
quarter of 1999. Loral also is the developer of CyberStar, a geostationary satellite-based, open protocol, digital telecommunications system that will offer a variety of low-cost, high-speed, data and telecommunications services worldwide, initially from leased Ku-band transponders in 1998 and subsequently through a dedicated constellation of geosynchronous Ka-band satellites. Also, Loral entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Orion Network
Systems, Inc., a corporate data networking and satellite services company, in a transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 1998. For more information, visit Loral's web site at loral.com.
Alcatel, the telecom sector of Alcatel Alsthom, designs, produces and markets complete telecommunications systems. Its activities cover fixed networks, transmission systems, access systems, mobile communications, corporate communication, sub-sea cables and radio communications, space and defense markets. Alcatel leads the SkyBridge program. Based on a constellation of 64 low-earth-orbiting satellites, SkyBridge will deliver global connectivity to
business and residential users, with a performance similar to future terrestrial broadband technologies. SkyBridge will be an ideal platform for the provision of real-time, highly interactive services, such as high-speed Internet access, telecommuting, video conferencing and interactive entertainment services. Present in over 130 countries, Alcatel is one of the main world-wide actors in most of its activities. In 1997, the telecom sector of Alcatel
Alsthom had total sales of more than 83 billion French francs. Visit Alcatel on the worldwide web at: alcatel.com. |
