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Technology Stocks : Loral Space & Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6177)	5/18/1999 9:17:00 PM
From: brian h	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10852

RS, As you wish Valueman, LOR decides to delay launching of Telstar 7! Loral to Delay Satellite Launch Amid Rocket Review (Update1) (Adds analysts' ratings in 4th, 5th paragraphs, Lockheed Martin comment in 8th paragraph.) New York, May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Loral Space & Communications Ltd. said it will delay the launch of its Telstar 7 television satellite by at least a month as Boeing Co. investigates the failure of a Delta III rocket., The Boeing rocket put an Orion 3 satellite built for Loral into the wrong orbit May 4, raising concerns about plans to launch the Telstar satellite on one of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s new Atlas III rockets. The two rockets have similar upper-stage engines, suspected as the failure's cause. An investigation will push the Telstar launch back until at least July 12 from June 15, Loral spokeswoman Jeanette Clonan said. The launch could come as late as September if Loral decides to use a rocket made by Europe's Arianespace instead, an option that the company has also said it's considering. Several customers warned they might defect to rivals after Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the two biggest U.S. space-launch companies, failed on four of six launch attempts in one month. Keeping the Loral launch ''is extremely important for Lockheed Martin,'' said Todd Ernst, a Prudential Securities Inc. analyst who has a ''hold'' rating on both companies' stock. He noted that Arianespace likely has open launch slots after satellite operator PanAmSat Corp. today slowed its own plans to introduce new satellites. Ty Carmichael, a Credit Suisse First Boston analyst, said the delay in the satellite's launch will have only a ''nominal'' effect on Loral's revenue. The main customer for the Telstar 7 is Time Warner Inc., which plans to use it to offer more digital programming to cable-television companies. Carmichael rates Loral's stock a ''buy,'' with a $24 price target. New York-based Loral's shares fell 1/16 to 18 11/6. Seattle- based Boeing rose 1 3/16 to 43 11/16. Bethedsa, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin fell 5/8 to 41. Boeing today named a panel to investigate the Delta III failure, led by Russell Reck, director of engineering technology for its Expendable Launch Systems division. The panel plans to share its findings with Lockheed Martin, which said it's eager to keep working with Loral. '' It's a very important launch for us,'' said Evan McCollum, a Lockheed Martin spokesman. ''Both we and our customer are doing everything we can to make sure it's successful.'' Best, Brian H.