SES ASTRA Completes Acquisition Of 100% Of DPC Digital Playout Center GmbH.

BETZDORF, Luxembourg & UNTERFOEHRING, Germany -- SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (EURONEXT:SESG)(LuxX:SESG) reports today that it has completed the acquisition of 100% of DPC Digital Playout Center GmbH from German Pay-TV operator Premiere on December 31st, 2004, following regulatory approval from the German Bundeskartellamt.

The transaction, initially announced June 28th, 2004 for a consideration of EUR 41.2 million and a 75% stake, was adapted following a requirement by the Bundeskartellamt to give SES ASTRA sole ownership for a total consideration of EUR 55 million.

DPC operates a broadcasting center in Unterfoehring and offers services comprising play-out, multiplexing, encryption and satellite uplinks to private as well as public broadcasters. Under SES ASTRA's helmsmanship, DPC will diversify its service offering by launching Germany's first "open" Pay-TV platform. The company will however retain its corporate identity, name, Unterfoehring premises and headquarters, as well as the existing Management and staff under CEO Wilfried Urner. SES ASTRA acquires the company debt-free and its results, which generated a turnover of EUR 31.5 million in 2003, will be fully consolidated into the accounts of SES ASTRA's parent company SES GLOBAL.

Comments Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA: "As a neutral technical platform service provider, SES ASTRA is looking forward to add value to our broadcasting customers businesses in Germany and other European markets. Our ownership of DPC is a logical and strategic fit with SES ASTRA's current positioning in the digital broadcasting value chain."

About DPC

DPC operates one of the most modern European broadcasting centres in Unterfoehring near Munich. From there, the company currently transmits more than 100 analogue and digital television and radio programmes as well as data services per uplink to the satellite. In addition, DPC also offers a comprehensive range of services concerning all aspects of broadcasting. Such services include signal processing based on the mpeg2 standard, the playout of applications and software downloads, and many other services as well. In addition to Premiere, other TV stations also share the broadcasting facility including ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, Home Shopping Europe HSE) 24, German Sport Television DSF, Tele 5 and many more.

About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com

The ASTRA Satellite System is Europe's leading Direct-to-Home satellite system, delivering services to more than 94 million Direct-to-Home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1100 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions for DTH (Direct-To-Home) services are 19.2(degrees) East and 28.2(degrees) East. Professional services like Direct-to-Cable (DTC), Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital positions of 24.2(degrees) East and 5.2(degrees) East.

SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Sock Exchange: SESG). SES GLOBAL owns two market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, and SES AMERICOM in the US. The Company also holds strategic participations in AsiaSat in Asia, Star One and Nahuelsat in Latin America, and NSAB in Europe. Via its WORLDSAT subsidiary it provides unparalleled connections to the premier regional satellite fleets of these SES GLOBAL partners. Americom Government Services provides network solutions and bandwidth to the US government and its contractors. SES GLOBAL can provide outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 40 satellites across the globe. In addition, SES GLOBAL is a shareholder in ORBCOMM, a provider of wireless data communications services through a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite network, and in satellite technology company ND Satcom. Last but not least, SES GLOBAL is a founding shareholder in SATLYNX, a Luxembourg based joint venture with Gilat and Alcatel Space, which has created an unrivalled portfolio of reliable and cost-efficient two-way satellite broadband service solutions to enterprises/corporates, small office/home office (SOHO) users and local communities all over Europe. Additional info on SES GLOBAL at: www.ses-global.com