Space Systems/Loral Awarded NASA Contract For Landsat Data Continuity Mission Accommodation Study

Space Systems/Loral to Design Spacecraft to Fulfill Unique Requirements for the Landsat Earth Observing Satellite Mission

PALO ALTO, Calif.- Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ:LORL) and the world’s leading provider of high-power commercial satellites, today announced that the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (RSDO) recently awarded SS/L a delivery order for a Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Spacecraft Accommodation Study.

The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The satellites provide imagery that is used in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. The LDCM will ensure that 30 years of image records from previous Landsat satellites will be preserved into the next decade.

SS/L will propose to NASA a spacecraft design based on the company’s flexible and space-proven 1300-bus platform that meets LDCM implementation and mission requirements. During the four month project, SS/L will study how to integrate the LDCM Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument and will include plans for mission integration, testing and other programmatic issues.

The delivery order follows a March 2007 award to SS/L for inclusion in the RSDO catalog of core spacecraft systems from which NASA and other federal agencies can order. SS/L’s inclusion in the RSDO catalog enables the company to compete for a variety of U.S. government contracts.

SS/L’s 1300 bus is an industry leader in supporting high reliability, long life missions including the most advanced communications and meteorological missions. The lightweight and high-strength structure-with fuel-efficient attitude and stationkeeping subsystems, high-efficiency solar arrays and batteries, and advanced command and control subsystems-offers high power, stable pointing, extensive flexibility, and a long mission life.

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to demonstrate how the 1300 satellite bus and our other space-proven building blocks can be configured to assure the success of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission,” said John Celli, president and chief operating officer of Space Systems/Loral. “Our commercial satellite customers demand fixed budgets and schedules as well as unquestionable service reliability. Our experience in meeting these stringent requirements positions us very well for meeting the needs of U.S. government programs.”

The 4-month LDCM spacecraft accommodation study is in preparation for a Request for Offer (RFO) for the LDCM satellite procurement, which is expected to be released by the RSDO this fall with an award in December.