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


POWERFUL HUGHES SATELLITE TO PROVIDE DIRECTV® TO LATIN AMERICA (photo)

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR STATION, Fla., Dec. 3, 1997 -- When the Galaxy VIII-i satellite lifts off from this central Florida launch site next week, it will highlight the work of several Hughes Electronics Corporation businesses.

The satellite was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC), the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites. The customer is PanAmSat Corporation, the world's leading commercial provider of satellite-based communications services, of which Hughes Electronics is a major shareholder. The spacecraft's entire payload is dedicated to the Galaxy Latin AmericaTM (GLA) DIRECTVTM service. Hughes Electronics holds a majority interest in GLA.

Galaxy VIII-i is scheduled for launch between 6:37 and 7:22 p.m. EST Dec. 8, aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket. It is scheduled to go into service February 1998, after about 45 days of in-orbit testing.

The new satellite is a body-stabilized Hughes HS 601HP (for high power) model. Generating 9.9 kilowatts, Galaxy VIII-i is one of the most powerful commercial spacecraft ever launched. It's also the second HS 601HP in PanAmSat's fleet of 17 satellites, joining PAS-5 that was launched in August.

Galaxy VIII-i will be used exclusively by Galaxy Latin America, covering Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Half the 32 Ku-band transponders will carry Spanish-language DIRECTV programming, and the other half will carry programming in Portuguese.

Among the features that make the HP spacecraft so powerful are its high-efficiency, dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cell arrays, developed by Hughes subsidiary Spectrolab, Inc. They can deliver as much as 75 percent more of the sun's energy than conventional silicon cells. HSC was the first builder to use gallium arsenide cells on commercial spacecraft.

Galaxy VIII-i is expected to operate 15 years, using primarily a revolutionary xenon ion propulsion system produced by Hughes Electronics' Electron Dynamics Division (EDD). XIPS uses the impulse generated by a thruster ejecting electrically charged xenon particles, or ions, at very high velocities, resulting in an increase in efficiency 10 times greater than the chemical bipropellant systems currently in use. With a XIPS system, propellant mass on a satellite can be reduced by up to 90 percent. As a result, customers can opt to launch a satellite with reduced launch costs, or, because of the weight tradeoffs possible with the XIPS system, can either extend satellite life or increase payload capabilities while holding satellite weight constant.

Hughes built the world's first commercial ion propulsion system, which was launched on PanAmSat's PAS-5 in August.

HSC, DIRECTV, Spectrolab and EDD are units 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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