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

GALAXY VIII-i SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR STATION, Fla., Dec. 8, 1997 -- Galaxy VIII-i, a powerful satellite offering direct-to-home television services for Latin America, was successfully launched here this evening and has sent its first signals.

It was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company for PanAmSat Corporation, which has dedicated the entire spacecraft to Galaxy Latin America^TM for its DIRECTV^TM service.

Liftoff aboard the Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket was at 6:52 p.m. EST. The rocket carried Galaxy VIII-i for about 30 minutes before injecting it into an elliptical transfer orbit. Satellite tracking stations in Sydney, Australia, and Castle Rock, Colo., received signals from the satellite about an hour after launch, indicating systems are operating normally. Over the next week, controllers will fire the spacecraft's liquid apogee motor to circularize Galaxy VIII-i in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles (36,000 km) above the equator. Then they will begin in-orbit tests to ensure that the 32 Ku-band transponders, as well as the high-efficiency xenon ion propulsion system, operate properly. Galaxy VIII-i is expected to go into service in February at 95 degrees West longitude to provide coverage to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Galaxy VIII-i is a Hughes HS 601HP (for high-power) body-stabilized satellite, and the most powerful Hughes satellite launched to date, with nearly 10 kilowatts of total spacecraft power. Featuring ion propulsion, high-performance gallium arsenide solar cells, a high-capacity battery and an enhanced thermal control system, Galaxy VIII-i offers the most advanced package of technologies available in a commercial communications satellite.

This is the eighth Hughes-built satellite to be launched this year, and the 15th satellite Hughes has built for PanAmSat. It also is the 38th launched in the HS 601 series, and the third of the HP versions. HSC is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, having built about 40 percent of those in operation. It also is a major supplier of spacecraft and equipment to the U.S. government, and builder of weather satellites for the United States and Japan. HSC and DIRECTV 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.