HUGHES SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
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HUGHES TO LAUNCH 5th ASTRA SATELLITE (photo)

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 25, 1997 -- Astra 1G, the fifth of seven satellites ordered by Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) of Luxembourg from Hughes Space and Communications Company, is scheduled for launch Wednesday morning, Dec. 3, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Astra 1G is scheduled for launch on a Proton rocket at 4:10 a.m. Wednesday (3:10 p.m. Tuesday in Los Angeles, 11:10 p.m. Tuesday GMT).

Astra 1G is an HS 601HP (for high power) satellite and will expand SES's television, radio and multi-media services throughout Europe. It is the second high-power model to be launched by Hughes, and features state-of-the-art gallium arsenide solar cells, which enable Astra 1G to provide 7 kilowatts of spacecraft power. These cells, built for Hughes by Spectrolab, Inc., are nearly one-and-a-half times more efficient than using traditional silicon solar cells.

The spacecraft will carry a total of 32 transponders, all active during the satellite's first five years, with 28 active thereafter, operating in the Broadcast Satellite Service and Fixed Satellite Service frequency bands, powered by 98-watt traveling wave tube amplifiers. SES will be able to change the transponders' transmission frequencies in-orbit to accommodate new programming or to back up the other Astra satellites. The satellite also has an advanced antenna design, using two large lightweight reflectors featuring Hughes' contoured-surface technology. Astra 1G will have a service life of 15 years and will be located with the other Astra 1 satellites at 19.2 degrees East longitude.

Astra 1G joins SES's current fleet which contains Astra 1C, launched in May 1993, Astra 1D, launched in Oct. 1994, Astra 1E, launched in Oct. 1995, and Astra 1F, launched in April 1996. Hughes is also under contract for two additional Astra satellites, Astra 2A and Astra 1H.

Hughes Space and Communications Company, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation, is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, and is also a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and space exploration to the U.S. government.

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

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