HUGHES SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY Communications and Customer Relations P.O. Box 92919 (S10/S323) Los Angeles, CA 90009 (310) 364-6363

HUGHES TO LAUNCH TV SATELLITE FOR NORWAY (photo)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 13, 1997 -- Thor II, the first dedicated television and communications spacecraft ordered by Telenor of Oslo, Norway, is scheduled for launch Sunday night.

Built by Hughes Space and Communications Company in El Segundo, Calif., the first of two launch windows for Thor II is 6:39 to 7:23 p.m. EDT (3:39 p.m. PDT and 10:39 p.m. GMT) Sunday. A second launch window of 8:54 to 9:45 p.m. EDT (5:54 p.m. PDT and 12:54 a.m. GMT Monday) has also been established. Thor II will be launched onboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on the central Florida coast.

Telenor is the owner and operator of Thor II, the first satellite to be designed specifically for Norway. It is a high-power version of Hughes' popular HS 376 spin-stabilized spacecraft model. Hughes also built Telenor's first satellite, Thor I, which was purchased in orbit in 1992 from British Sky Broadcasting. The two-satellite fleet will deliver television and telephony/data services to five zones stretching from Scandinavia across the north Atlantic to Greenland, with the primary zone comprising Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states.

Thor II will deliver direct-to-home television by means of 15 active Ku-band transponders, powered by 18 40-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs). The spacecraft will use gallium arsenide solar cells to generate more than 1400 watts of spacecraft power at end of life and will rely on nickel-hydrogen batteries for power through eclipses. Thor II is designed to operate for more than 11 years and will be located at 0.8 degrees West longitude.

In addition to providing the spacecraft and launch services, Hughes is also providing training and earth station upgrades at various sites, including the main site in Nittedal, Norway.

Both satellites in Telenor's fleet are versions of the Hughes spin-stabilized 376 model. This popular and versatile model is one of the world's most purchased commercial communications satellites. Thor II will be the 48th HS 376 model to be launched.

HSC is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, having built 40 percent of those in operation today. It also is a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and space exploration to the U.S. government.

HSC is a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock.