HUGHES SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
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HUGHES TO BUILD PAS-6B SATELLITE FOR PANAMSAT (photo)

LOS ANGELES, March 19, 1998 -- Hughes Space and Communications Company has been selected by PanAmSat Corporation to build the PAS-6B Atlantic Ocean Region satellite. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The new satellite, an HS 601HP, is scheduled for delivery to PanAmSat later this year.

PAS-6B will provide direct-to-home television transmissions in South America. The satellite will carry a 7-kilowatt payload consisting of 32 active Ku-band transponders powered by a combination of 105-watt and 140-watt traveling wave-tube amplifiers.

The satellite will carry Hughes' xenon ion propulsion system, "XIPS." The solar arrays on PAS-6B will generate more than 8 kilowatts of power through the use of dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells, which provide a significant increase in power over silicon cells.

PanAmSat has made arrangements with Arianespace to launch PAS-6B in the fourth quarter of 1998. PAS-6B is designed to provide a minimum of 15 years of service from its geostationary position of 43 degrees West longitude.

PanAmSat (NASDAQ: SPOT) is the world's leading commercial provider of satellite-based communications services. Hughes Space and Communications Company is the world's largest manufacturer of geostationary commercial communications satellites, and a major supplier of spacecraft for communications and space exploration to the U.S. government and Japan. Hughes communications satellites maintain an overall channel availability of more than 99 percent.

Hughes Space and Communications Company 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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