Hughes Opens World's Largest Satellite Factory.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1998--With nearly 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space, Hughes has created the world's largest commercial communications satellite factory.

Hughes Space and Communications Company, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation, started 1998 by adding a thermal stress chamber, an ultra-modern nearfield antenna range facility, and a large, dual-capacity thermal vacuum chamber, all contained on 41,000 square feet of testing space.

With these additions, Hughes now has an integrated satellite factory with unrivaled production and testing capacity. Hughes can simultaneously conduct four spacecraft-level thermal vacuum tests. Antenna testing can be accomplished in any of five nearfield test areas.

Thermal stress testing at the spacecraft level can also be conducted simultaneously on two spacecraft. In addition, the company plans to complete construction on a compact antenna range facility that will be used to test antennas operating in the very powerful Ka-band frequencies.

"You may be asking yourself why these additions are so important to us," said Donald L. Cromer, president of Hughes Space and Communications Company.

"These additions mean we can continue to shorten our production cycle times. We can also manage our personnel and capital resources better, and can reduce program risk. We believe we are the first to establish a factory with such consummate capability."

The Hughes Integrated Satellite Factory is dedicated to the design and manufacture of the HS 376; the HS 601, the world's most widely purchased commercial communications satellite and the design chosen for the United States' newest weather satellites; the new HS 702, the world's most powerful communications satellite; and two lines of mobile communications satellites, one for geostationary and the other for median-Earth orbit.

Since Hughes acquired the building in 1955, it has evolved into a state-of-the-art facility capable of supporting Hughes' existing backlog of 36 satellites, with room to spare.

"We are proud to be the world's largest satellite manufacturer, and we envision the demand for telecommunications satellites to continue to spiral upward," said Cromer. "Today's satellites are getting bigger and better, but with the increase in size and capability comes the need for more area to design, manufacture and test these larger spacecraft.

"With these new additions, we can also increase the number of satellites under construction at any time -- and that means quicker delivery."

To meet future projected demand, Hughes has installed a new thermal vacuum chamber with a 63,000-cubic-foot testing area. Thermal vacuum chambers are used to simulate the environment of space: the heat from the sun and the coldness and vacuum of space. The massive chamber required the construction of a separate building, which is adjacent to the main factory floor.

Weighing more than one million pounds, it is the largest of its shape and can simultaneously test two of Hughes' largest spacecraft, the HS 702.

In addition to size, however, is the importance of the horizontal orientation of the chamber, which allows technicians to quickly and easily move the satellite in and out of the chamber. Satellite buses entering the chamber are rolled in on large tracks, similar to a car entering a garage.

"Our customers are seeking increasingly complex payloads, and the satellite bus has also grown to meet this requirement. Our rigorous test procedures assure that each and every Hughes satellite achieves the highest level of reliability, and our record of more than 99 percent channel availability proves that we are on the right track," Cromer said.

"To be able to test three to four satellites in thermal vacuum chambers simultaneously gives us a tremendous boost in the reduction of cycle time."

Hughes' Integrated Satellite Factory is the central location for the construction of Hughes satellites. Virtually every phase of satellite manufacturing is accomplished within these walls: design, fabrication, component integration, and testing at the unit, subsystem, and completed spacecraft levels.

To leverage the areas common in all satellites, the factory is organized into dedicated areas of specialization, such as structures, propulsion, payload integration and test, antenna fabrication, solar array assembly, and spacecraft integration and test.

As a spacecraft is constructed, it passes through each of these areas, which are referred to as "bays." When a spacecraft finally enters one of two 60-foot High Bays, it undergoes final integration and test before shipment to the launch site. Specialized test equipment, alignment tools, and large rollover fixtures, which allow technicians to reposition the spacecraft for easy access, are featured in the High Bay.

The factory also contains a Mass Properties Laboratory, which performs final weighing and spin balancing of spacecraft to ensure it meets weight, center-of-gravity, dynamic balance, and moment-of-inertia requirements; and a Space Simulation Laboratory, where rigorous thermal, vibration and shock testing is performed. Located within the Space Simulation Laboratory are four thermal vacuum chambers and a thermal cycling chamber, also used in spacecraft test.

Hughes Space and Communications Company is the world's largest manufacturer of geostationary commercial communications satellites, and is also a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and space exploration to the U.S. government and a builder of weather satellites for the United States and Japan.

The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: A high-resolution photo, suitable for downloading, of the new chamber has been posted on our Website in the Press Center, accessible off that page by either the Photo Gallery or by opening the camera icon to the right of the press release at the top of the Press Center listing. www.hughespace.com

CONTACT: Hughes Space and Communications Co.,

Communications and Customer Relations

310/364-6363, www.hughespace.com