Another Hughes satellite to be launched for PanAmSat.

KOUROU, French Guiana--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 1994--There will be more channels for trans-Atlantic communications with the launch of a new satellite Thursday from the Guiana Space Center.

The satellite is PAS-3, a multipurpose spacecraft built by Hughes Space and Communications Co. of Los Angeles for PanAmSat L.P. of Greenwich, Conn. The launch is scheduled aboard an Arianespace Ariane 42P rocket at 7:35 p.m. local time (2:35 p.m. PST, 10:35 p.m. GMT). If needed, a second launch opportunity will begin one hour 53 minutes later. The European-backed space center is on the northeast coast of South America.

PAS-3 will be positioned above the Atlantic Ocean at 43 degrees west longitude, to carry video, data and voice signals. PAS-3 is the 11th Hughes-built satellite to be launched in 1994 and Hughes' second spacecraft for PanAmSat. PAS-2 was launched in July, also aboard an Ariane rocket, and is providing services across the Pacific Ocean.

The satellite is a high-capacity Hughes HS 601 model, featuring lightweight, specially contoured antennas that concentrate the signals over specific areas without requiring a complicated network of hardware known as multiple feedhorns. The satellite will operate in both C-band and Ku-band, with 16 active transponders in each frequency range.

Hughes is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, and a major supplier of spacecraft and scientific instruments to the U.S. government. PanAmSat is the world's first privately owned global communications satellite operator.

Some statistics about PAS-3:

-- 100th Hughes commercial communications satellite to be

launched;

-- 112th Hughes communications satellite to be launched;

-- 133rd Hughes communications and scientific spacecraft to be

launched;

-- 11th Hughes satellite to be launched this year. -0-

NOTE TO TV EDITORS: Arianespace has arranged for the launch to be carried on SBS 6, Transponder 5H. You are welcome to pick up the video for your broadcasts.

CONTACT: Hughes Space and Communications Co.

Fran Slimmer, 310/364-6363