ADVISORY/ILS Proton to Launch Intelsat 903.

Assignment/News Editors

ADVISORY...for Saturday (March 30)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Payload:                 Intelsat 903
                         Loral 1300 platform
                         Separated mass: approx. 4,726 kg (10,421 lbs)

Launch Vehicle:          Proton K/Block DM
                         Weight at liftoff: 691,272 kg
                         (1.5 million lbs), including payload
                         Height: 57.2 m (187.7 ft)
                         Payload fairing: 4.35 m (14.27 ft) diameter

Launch Date:             Saturday, March 30, 2002

Launch Window Opens:     10:25 p.m. Baikonur
                         8:25 p.m. Moscow
                         17:25 GMT
                         12:25 p.m. EST (USA)

Launch Site:             Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
                         Launch Complex 81, Pad 23

End User:                Intelsat, international satellite operator

Satellite Manufacturer:  Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, Calif.

Launch Vehicle           Khrunichev State Research and Production
Manufacturer:            Space Center, Moscow - Proton first three
                         stages; RSC Energia, near Moscow - Block DM
                         fourth stage

Launch Services          International Launch Services (ILS), McLean,
Provider:                Va.

Satellite Use:           Internet, broadcast, telephony and business
                         services for Atlantic and eastern Pacific
                         ocean regions

Satellite Statistics:    -- 4th satellite launched in Intelsat IX
                            series
                         -- Orbital location: 325.5 degrees East
                            longitude
                         -- 76 transponders at C-band (36 MHz
                            equivalent units)
                         -- 24 transponders at Ku-band (36 MHz
                            equivalent units)
                         -- Anticipated service life of 13 years

Mission Profile:         The Proton launch vehicle will inject the
                         Intelsat 903 satellite into geosynchronous
                         transfer orbit. The first three stages will
                         use a standard ascent trajectory to place the
                         Block DM upper stage with the satellite into
                         a 161-km (100-mi) circular parking orbit,
                         inclined at 51.6 degrees. Then the "enhanced"
                         three-burn Block DM will propel the satellite
                         to its transfer orbit. Following separation
                         from the Block DM, the spacecraft will
                         perform a series of liquid apogee engine
                         burns to raise perigee, lower inclination and
                         circularize the orbit at the geostationary
                         altitude of 36,000 km (22,300 mi).

Spacecraft Separation:   Approximately 6 hours, 43 minutes after
                         liftoff

ILS Mission Statistics:  -- 3rd ILS mission this year
                         -- 1st ILS Proton mission this year
                         -- 22nd ILS mission on Proton since formation
                            of the U.S.- Russian joint venture in 1995


Live Broadcast:          Satellite: Telstar 5, transponder 23, C-band
                         Downlink frequency 4169 vertical
                         Test signals to begin at 11:30 a.m. EST

More Information:        Live webcast and general mission information
                         are available on the ILS web site at
                         www.ilslaunch.com. Launch status updates are
                         available on the ILS U.S. domestic Launch
                         Hotline at 1-800-852-4980.