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


HUGHES TO LAUNCH JAPAN'S SUPERBIRD-C (photo)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 18, 1997 -- Superbird-C, the third communications and television satellite for Space Communications Corporation (SCC) of Tokyo, is scheduled for launch next Friday night.

The satellite, which was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company in El Segundo, Calif., has a scheduled launch window of 8:54 to 9:34 p.m. EDT Friday July 25 (5:54 p.m. PDT, 12:54 a.m. Saturday July 26, GMT, and 9:54 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo). Superbird-C will be launched onboard an Atlas IIAS launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Station on the central Florida coast.

SCC is the owner and operator of Superbird-C, an HS 601 body-stabilized spacecraft model. The payload consists of 24 active Ku-band transponders powered by 90-watt, linearized traveling wave tube amplifiers. The satellite has a pair of four-panel solar arrays that will generate 4,500 watts of electrical power. The spacecraft will also have two 85-inch-diameter antennas using Hughes' innovative shaped beam technology, in addition to a steerable spot beam designed and built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Tokyo to increase service where needed.

Superbird-C is the first in the series to be built by Hughes, but is the third satellite in the SCC fleet. It will join Superbird-A and Superbird-B to provide digital multi-channel broadcasting services and business communications services throughout Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, including Hawaii.

Superbird-C will be stationed at 144 degrees East longitude, and will have a service life of more than 10 years.

The HS 601 is the most widely purchased commercial communications satellite in the world. Superbird-C will be the 34th HS 601 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.

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