Space Systems/Loral Ships Telstar 14/Estrela Do Sul 1 Satellite To Sea Launch Home Port For Early January Launch
Space Systems/Loral, a
subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, today
announced that it has shipped the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 satellite to the
Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, Calif., where it is being prepared for an
early January 2004 launch.
“Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 will become the backbone of Loral’s fixed
satellite services business in Latin America,” said Terry Hart, president,
Loral Skynet. “With this new satellite, Loral will have the capability to
offer its customers unique coverage patterns in Brazil and Latin America and
will be the first Brazilian operator to offer its own Ku-band service to
Brazil.”
Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 will carry 51 Ku-band (36 MHz equivalent)
transponders with five unique and interconnecting coverage beams. More than
fifty percent of the satellite’s power will be dedicated to Brazil, providing
dedicated Ku-band solutions for the Brazilian marketplace from its 63 degrees
West longitude orbital slot. The satellite’s other beams will cover the
Americas and the North Atlantic Ocean, where Connexion by Boeing(TM) will use
the satellite to enable its Internet-to-aircraft service. The satellite will
support business applications such as broadcast video and cable programming,
Internet backbone connectivity, VSAT data and other telecommunications
services.
The satellite will be lifted into orbit by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket
from the Odyssey Launch Platform positioned on the equator in the Pacific
Ocean.
Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 was manufactured for Loral Skynet do Brasil by
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). SS/L is a premier designer, manufacturer and
integrator of powerful satellites and satellite systems and also provides a
range of related services that include mission control operations and
procurement of launch services. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company has an
international base of commercial and governmental customers whose applications
include broadband digital communications, direct-to-home broadcast, defense
communications, environmental monitoring, and air traffic control.
On July 15, 2003, Loral and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary
petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Loral intends
to reorganize around its international satellite fleet, which includes Telstar
14/Estrela do Sul 1, and its manufacturing businesses and is in the process
now of preparing its formal plan of reorganization. Telstar 18, offering
services to a large portion of Asia, is set to launch in the second quarter of
2004, bringing the total number of satellites in the international fleet to
five.
Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. It
owns and operates a global fleet of telecommunications satellites used by
television and cable networks to broadcast video entertainment programming,
and by communication service providers, resellers, corporate and government
customers for broadband data transmission, Internet services and other value-
added communications services. Loral also is a world-class leader in the
design and manufacture of satellites and satellite systems for commercial and
government applications including direct-to-home television, broadband
communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring and air traffic
management. For more information, visit Loral’s web site at www.loral.com.
This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In addition, Loral Space &
Communications Ltd. or its representatives have made or may make forward-
looking statements, orally or in writing, which may be included in, but are
not limited to, various filings made by the company with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, press releases or oral statements made with the approval
of an authorized executive officer of the company. Actual results could differ
materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements
as a result of a wide variety of factors and conditions. These factors
include those related to the filing, on July 15, 2003 by Loral and certain of
its subsidiaries, of voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11
of Title 11 of the United States Code in the United States District Court for
the Southern District of New York and parallel insolvency proceedings in the
Supreme Court of Bermuda in which certain partners of KPMG were appointed as
joint provisional liquidators. Additional factors and conditions are also
described in the section of the company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, entitled “Certain Factors That May Affect
Future Results,” and the company’s other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The reader is specifically referred to these documents.
