Space Systems/Loral Built Satellite to Host Government Payload

SES Sirius 5 Satellite, Under Construction At Space Systems/Loral, Adds European Union Navigation Service to Its Mission


PALO ALTO, Calif., March 16, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (Nasdaq:LORL) and the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that it will add a government payload to Sirius 5, a satellite for SES (Euronext Paris:SESG) (Luxembourg Stock Exchange:SESG), which is currently under construction at the spacecraft manufacturing facility in California. In addition to the primary payloads which will provide high performance coverage for Direct-to-Home broadcasting, broadband, point-to-point, and VSAT services in Europe and Africa, Sirius 5 will now also host a navigation payload for the European Union.

"The SS/L 1300 satellite platform is particularly well-suited to carry secondary payloads because of its size and power generation capability," said Martin Halliwell, President and CEO of SES Engineering. "Sirius 5 was already designed to support multiple missions and the addition of the government navigation service provides a timely and cost-effective solution for the European Union."

The navigation payload is part of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), which is being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC). The service is a precursor to Galileo, the full global satellite navigation system under development in Europe. It will augment the accuracy and reliability of signals from both the GPS satellite navigation system and the Russian GLONASS system.

"We have been very successful in accommodating hosted payloads on our satellites," said John Celli, president and chief operating officer of Space Systems/Loral. "We are pleased that SES has selected our flexible 1300 spacecraft platform as a vehicle to enable Europe to get a jump start on its own navigation monitoring for safety critical applications."

With the addition of the EGNOS payload, Sirius 5 will operate in Ka-, Ku-, C- and L-band when it is launched in 2011. The payloads are supported by SS/L's 1300 spacecraft bus, which provides the flexibility for a broad range of applications and it is designed for 15 years of service.

About SES

SES owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES which provides global coverage and connectivity. The company owns 90 percent of SES SIRIUS in Europe, as well as strategic participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 40 satellites in 26 orbital positions around the globe. Additional information on SES is available at: www.ses.com.

About Space Systems/Loral

Based in Palo Alto, California, SS/L designs and builds satellites and spacecraft systems for commercial and government customers around the world. As the leading provider of commercial satellites, the company works closely with satellite operators to deliver spacecraft for a broad range of services including direct-to-home television, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, and digital multimedia broadcasting. With more active transponders on 3-axis controlled spacecraft than any other satellite manufacturer, SS/L helps customers meet business objectives with advanced solutions based on space-proven heritage designs. For more information, visit www.ssloral.com.

About Loral Space & Communications

Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. Through its Space Systems/Loral subsidiary, the company 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. Loral also owns 64 percent of Telesat Canada, one of the world's largest providers of satellite services. Telesat Canada operates a fleet of telecommunications satellites used to broadcast video entertainment programming, distribute direct-to-home video and broadband data services, and other value-added communications services. 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 Inc. 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 from time to time 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. Many of these factors and conditions are described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent periods. The reader is specifically referred to these documents, as well as the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



            

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