It has been announced here today by the Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), the subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications and the world's pioneer provider of high-power commercial satellites that four SS/L designed satellites have been planned to be launched later this month on a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It has been stated, that the four satellites were built for Globalstar, Inc. for the sake of providing mobile satellite voice and data services.

The Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. The company excels in owning and operating a fleet of telecommunications satellites, that are used to broadcast video entertainment programming, distribute broadband data, and provide access to Internet services and other value-added communications services. Loral is also acclaimed as an internationally renowned leader especially in the designing and manufacturing of satellites and satellite systems. Its designed and manufactured satellites and satellite systems are being used for commercial and government applications that include direct-to-home television, broadband communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring and air traffic management. On the other hand, the SS/L is engaged in the designing and building of satellites and spacecraft systems towards gratifying the needs of prospective commercial and government customers around the world. Being a renowned provider of high-power commercial satellites, the company works closely with satellite operators for delivering spacecraft for a broad range of services including direct-to-home television, digital audio radio and others.

It has come to the knowledge in this respect that the four Globalstar satellites undertaken and manufactured by prime contractor Space Systems/Loral and a consortium of partners and subcontractors, were completed as ground spares in 2002 and placed in storage at SS/L's flight storage facility. By the early 2006 the satellites were removed for post-storage testing in preparation for flight by the Space Systems/Loral at its manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California and by the company's subcontractor, Thales Alenia Space, at its production facility in Rome.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Jay Monroe, Chairman and CEO of Globalstar, Inc. said, "Space Systems/Loral design and engineering oversight has been crucial to the preparations of the four ground spares that are scheduled for launch later this month. As the architect for our first generation constellation of satellites, Space Systems/Loral brought significant advances to two-way voice and data satellite service."

While John Celli, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Space Systems/Loral said, "Our ongoing association with Globalstar demonstrates our flexibility in helping satellite operators meet their business objectives,"  "We recognize the value of bringing communications to remote areas and are pleased to see these ground spares put into use," he added.