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

To: Jeff Vayda who wrote (6187)	5/20/1999 5:57:00 PM
From: Rocket Scientist	Respond to of 10852

Thursday May 20, 2:05 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Another Space Systems/Loral Satellite Exceeds Its Original Design Life GOES-8 Keeps on Going and Going and Going PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1999--Having successfully completed its 5-year mission design life, GOES-8, a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), remains fully operational and will continue to be used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of its active operational constellation. GOES-8, known as GOES-East to most users and located at 75 degrees West longitude, continues to operate so well that NOAA recently authorized the development of a significant software upgrade to help extend its life. This is an especially remarkable achievement in that GOES-8 was the first satellite in a new state-of-the-art series. SS/L, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NYSE:LOR - news), was selected in 1969 as the prime contractor for the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS), the original generation of GOES satellites, which was first launched in 1974. In October 1985, SS/L was again selected as the prime contractor for the GOES program, which NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) manages on behalf of NOAA. Though the SMS and the first three GOES satellites performed well, they used a spin-stabilized design, which views the earth only 5% of the time. To improve upon this for the later GOES I-thorough-M series, SS/L developed the current 3-axis stabilized design which has a continuous view of the earth. As a result, GOES-8, which was launched on April 13, 1994, from the Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida on an Atlas I launch vehicle, was the first American geostationary meteorological satellite or ''metsat'' to use a 3-axis stabilized design. It was also the first GEO metsat to feature simultaneous and independent imaging and sounding. SS/L and its government partners are preparing for the launch of GOES-L, fourth in the GOES I-M series, later this month from Cape Canaveral Air Station. After launch, it will be renamed GOES-11. Space Systems/Loral, headquartered in Palo Alto, 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, multi-media, broadband, and digital audio radio spacecraft; it also builds environmental science, weather- watch, and air traffic control satellites. SS/L is ISO 9001 certified. For more information, visit Space Systems/Loral's web site at 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