LORAL PROVIDES NINTH TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE IN INTELSAT VII SERIES.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1996--INTELSAT 709, the ninth INTELSAT VII telecommunications satellite constructed by Space Systems/Loral for the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), was successfully launched at 2:55 a.m. eastern time on Saturday, June 15, from Kourou, French Guyana. The INTELSAT VII program reinforces SS/L's leadership role as the preeminent provider of high power telecommunications satellites for global communication services. Under the program which began in 1988, Space Systems/Loral has built nine geosynchronous satellites for the member nations of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization.

Space Systems/Loral was the prime contractor for the I-709 satellite. This satellite was the third in the INTELSAT VII satellite series that was successfully integrated and tested in France by Aerospatiale and delivered into storage five months prior to its launch on an Ariane 44P Launch Vehicle.

The I-709 satellite together with the other INTELSAT VII satellites will replace the operational INTELSAT V satellites, also built by SS/L, which have now exceeded their expected lifetimes.

The INTELSAT 709 spacecraft is among the most advanced commercial satellites in the world and will satisfy the growing need for digital services, smaller earth stations and advanced INTELSAT communications services in the Atlantic Ocean region and will have an expected life of over 15 years.

Space Systems/Loral is a full-service provider of commercial communications satellite systems and services, including launch services and insurance procurement and mission operations from its mission control center in Palo Alto, Calif. SS/L currently has a total backlog of more than 80 spacecraft. The company is the prime contractor for the Globalstar satellites, TCI/Tempo, L- STAR and MCI direct broadcast satellites, the nine satellites in the INTELSAT VII series, N-STAR, Mabuhay, APSTAR-IIR, TELSTAR-5 and PanAmSat communications satellites, as well as the latest series of weather-watch satellites, GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite), and the Japanese MTSAT, the next-generation Japanese air traffic control and weather-watch satellite.

Loral Space & Communications Ltd., headquartered in New York City, is a high-technology company that primarily concentrates in space and telecommunications. Loral Space & Communications Ltd. manages and is the largest equity owner of both the Globalstar Limited Partnership, which is building and preparing to launch the Globalstar worldwide satellite-based digital telecommunications system, and Space Systems/Loral, the world's premier manufacturer of large, high-powered satellites for telecommunications and environmental applications.

CONTACT: Loral Space & Communications Ltd.

David Benton, 703/414-1045