From: Satjournal@aol.com
Satellite Journal International
Volume Five
October, 20
1997
"Anyone who enjoys the privilege of publishing and broadcasting in open
societies should 
demonstrate their unshakeable belief in the universality of free speech
should they ever seek to 
broadcast in societies that are closed."
Loral Space To Buy Orion
TCI's New Argentine Ventures
Retevision Moves from Analogue
NextLevel Installs MPEG-2/DVB in Thailand
The B-Movie Channel's Launch Delayed
PanAmSat Reports Revenues of $170.3 Million
GE Americom Inaugurates New Satellite with PBS
AB Sports to Be Broadcast on Canalsatellite
BBC Announces Investment
First Globalstar Satellites
PanAmSat to Utilise SBS 5
ORBCOMM Kicks Off
Alcatel's SkyBridge Signs up Toshiba
Public Broadcasters to Deliver
Hughes Operates First
ComStream Wins Contract
APPOINTMENTS
PanAmSat Welcomes Michael T. Smith
Classified
Upcoming Launches
Loral Space To Buy Orion
------------------------
Loral Space has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Orion
Network 
Systems Inc. for Loral common stock.
Based on Orion's fully diluted share base of approximately 28 million shares,
the value 
of the transaction is approximately $490 million. 
               
Orion owns and operates the Orion 1 satellite, placed in service in January
1995, 
covering the European, transatlantic and U.S. markets, and has two additional
satellites under 
construction, the cost of which was fully funded through the public issuance
of debt earlier this 
year.  Orion's transponder capacity will increase substantially with the
launching of Orion 3, 
scheduled for service in January 1999, covering the Asia Pacific region, and
Orion 2, which will 
serve the Americas and Europe beginning in June 1999.  The three-satellite
constellation will be 
capable of providing services to 85% of the world's population by 1999. 
In addition, Orion has authorisation for domestic and international orbital
slots, including 
certain slots for the provision of Ka-band service.       
Orion serves a customer base of 260 multinational businesses and Internet
service 
providers in 47 countries via approximately 630 installed terminals (earth
stations or very small 
aperture terminals (VSATs)) that receive networked value-added services from
Orion 1.  The 
company also operates a tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) facility in
Mount Jackson, 
Virginia.  As of June 30, 1997, Orion had cash on hand of $480 million and
debt of approximately 
$723 million, which is expected to remain outstanding after the transaction.
 
Orion revenues nearly doubled from 1995 to 1996, and Loral expects a revenue
increase 
of approximately 80% to $75 million in 1997 and, in 1998, an increase of more
than 83% to 
approximately $137 million.  Loral expects earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and 
amortisation (EBITDA) to be approximately $9 million in 1997, increasing to
$35 million in 1998 
and reaching $200 million in 2000. A net loss of $125 million is forecast for
Orion in 1997 due 
primarily to depreciation and interest expense.  
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 1998, subject to
Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC), Hart-Scott-Rodino and Orion shareholder
approval.  The 
boards of directors of both Loral and Orion have approved the transaction.  
Loral is also entering into agreements with approximately 35 percent of
Orion's 
shareholders, the effect of which will be to require them to vote in favour
of the transaction.  In 
addition, Orion's largest shareholder has agreed to certain restrictions on
the transferability of 
the Loral common stock it will receive as a result of the transaction.  
TCI's New Argentine Ventures 
----------------------------
Tele-Communications International has signed an agreement to sell a 24.76
percent 
interest -- or approximately one-half of its 51 percent -- in Argentine cable
company Cablevision 
S.A. to CEI CitiCorp Holdings S.A. (CEI) and T.I. TelefonicaInternacional,
S.A. (Telefonica).  
With nearly 600,000 subscribers, Cablevisionis one of Argentina's largest
cable companies.  The 
purchase price for the interest is US $210 million; $90 million of which will
remain in Cablevision 
in anticipation of the company's $320 million immediate capital increase. 
Retevision Moves from Analogue
------------------------------
 Spain's Retevision has chosen PowerVu's MPEG-2/DVB digital video compression
system for an analogue-to-digital conversion of its satellite delivery of
programming. The nearly 
$3 million 2:6 PowerVu system is scheduled to begin operation in December
1997. 
Using the six-channel PowerVu system, Retevision will deliver programming to
more 
than 800 remote sites spread across Spain. Signals will be uplinked at the
Arganda teleport via 
the Hispasat satellite for reception by PowerVu Headend Satellite Receivers. 
NextLevel Installs MPEG-2/DVB in Thailand 
-----------------------------------------
NextLevel Systems has launched its first private business network
installation of 
NextLevel MPEG-2/DVB technology.  The installation is in Thailand for Thai
Farmers Bank in 
Bangkok. The bank will use the new system to uplink multimedia applications
from its 
headquarters in Bangkok to downlinks at more than 500 bank sites throughout
Thailand. 
The sale to Thai Farmers Bank includes provisions for supplying more than 500
NextLevel SR-3200 Integrated Receiver Decoders (IRDs) for the bank's downlink
sites.  The 
system integrator contracted for this project is Telesat Corporation, Ltd. of
Thailand. 
The B-Movie Channel's Launch Delayed
------------------------------------
The cable/satellite programming network The B-Movie Channel has delayed its
24 hour 
debut to Oct. 17, 1997, on Galaxy 7, Transponder 22, and will still be
offered unscrambled and in 
the clear (for a limited time) for millions of viewers. 
Reasons related to the delay of the channel's launch include a delay in
receiving some 
of the correct advertising programming segments, and last minute changes in
uplink 
arrangements. 
PanAmSat Reports Revenues of $170.3 Million
-------------------------------------------
PanAmSat reports that the company had revenues of $170.3 million for the
quarter 
ended September 30, 1997, a decrease of $13.5 million, or 7 percent, as
compared combined 
revenues of $183.8 million for the same period in 1996.  Operating lease
revenues, representing 
94 percent of total revenues for the third quarter 1997, increased by 23
percent to $160.9 million 
from the same period in 1996.  
For the three months ended September 30, 1997, earnings before net interest
expense, 
income taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $121.4 million, or
71 percent of total 
revenues, as compared to pro forma EBITDA of $126.0 million, or 69 percent of
total revenues, 
for the same period in 1996.   
For the nine months ended September 30, 1997, PanAmSat had pro forma combined
revenues of $558.1 million, compared to pro forma combined revenues of $547.0
million for the 
nine months ended September 30, 1996.  EBITDA was $396.0 million, or 71
percent of total 
revenues, for the nine months ended September 30, 1997, compared to pro forma
EBITDA of 
$362.3 million, or 66 percent of revenues, for the same period in 1996.  
GE Americom Inaugurates New Satellite with PBS
----------------------------------------------
The Public Broadcasting Service has begun delivering its first programming
over the GE-
3 satellite, which was launched September 4 and has now is operational. 
PBS will use multiple GE-3 transponders to transmit its array of national
programming 
and educational services to PBS member stations, colleges, schools,
businesses and audiences 
nation-wide.  The Public Broadcasting Service is one of several major
broadcast and cable 
services transmitting from the satellite.
In addition to PBS' general-audience and educational programming, GE-3 will
also 
provide the transponder space for new digital television services, which will
be introduced by 
PBS. 
GE-3 located at 87 degrees W.L. is hybrid satellite with 24 C-band and 24
Ku-band 
transponders. 
AB Sports to Be Broadcast on Canalsatellite
-------------------------------------------
Groupe AB and Canalsatellite have signed an agreement under which AB Sports, 
Groupe AB's sports-dedicated thematic channel will be broadcast in the basic
DTH service of 
Canalsatellite.  Canalsatellite intends to enrich its basic service with five
new channels between 
now and the end of the year. 
This agreement, which makes AB Sports available to Canalsatellite's  500,000
basic 
subscribers, significantly increases the distribution of the channel. 
AB Sports, one of the twenty thematic channels in AB Sat's digital DTH
service, is 
100% owned by Groupe AB. 
BBC Announces Investment
------------------------
The British Broadcasting Corporation is investing new money, close to $30
million, in 
newsgathering. First steps in the BBC's investment in newsgathering include: 
-- The creation of seven super-bureaus with enhanced technical facilities; 
-- 10 new reporting posts, four new bureaus; -- six new bureau chiefs; --
24-hour satellite 
coverage across the United States, Europe and the Middle East;
-- Permanent satellite uplinks for Washington, New York, Brussels and
Jerusalem; 
America Direct: daily live programming from the United States to worldwide
audiences. 
First Globalstar Satellites
---------------------------
The first two Globalstar mobile communications satellites, FM-1 and FM-2,
have arrived 
safely at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, from Alenia Aerospazio's
satellite assembly plant 
in Rome, Italy.  The satellites, along with two soon-to-be-arriving companion
satellites, FM-3 and 
FM-4, will be launched December 4 at approximately 6:21 a.m. (EST) aboard a
Boeing Delta 2 
launch vehicle.
Globalstar will then use three Zenit-2 Ukrainian-built launch vehicles to
launch the next 
36 satellites, 12 satellites per launch,  from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.   
Globalstar will complete the constellation by using three Russian-built Soyuz
launch vehicles to 
launch the remaining 12 satellites, four satellites per launch, also from
Baikonur.
The satellites arrived at the NASA Shuttle Landing Facility on Saturday,
October 11, 
1997, aboard a commercially chartered C-130 Hercules aircraft from John F.
Kennedy Airport in 
New York.  They had been transported to New York from Rome, Italy, aboard a
commercial 
Boeing 747 cargo aircraft.
Globalstar plans to launch a total of 56 low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites,
48 primary 
satellites and eight in-orbit spares, before the end of 1998.  The next four
satellites are 
scheduled for launch from the Cape in February 1998 aboard a second Delta 2
launch vehicle.
Globalstar is a low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellite-based digital
telecommunications 
system that will offer wireless telephone and other telecommunications
services worldwide 
beginning in late 1998.
Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., is the prime contractor for the
Globalstar space 
segment.  The three-axis, body-stabilised LEO satellites weigh 450 kilograms
each, and have 
total transponder power of over 1,000 watts.  The satellites in the
first-generation constellation 
are designed to operate at full performance for a minimum of 7 « years.
PanAmSat to Utilise SBS 5
-------------------------
PanAmSat is supporting efforts by the University of Southern California (USC)
to 
transform its local distance learning program into a nationally distributed
education network. 
Geared toward professionals working to earn their masters and/or doctorate
degrees, the USC 
program offers two full-time digital channels of educational programming to
students over 
PanAmSat's SBS 5 domestic U.S. satellite.
USC will offer two digital channels of educational programming, primarily
accessed by 
corporations, via one 110-Megahertz (MHz) transponder on SBS 5. The service
will migrate to 
Galaxy X upon that satellite's launch in 1998.   
ORBCOMM Kicks Off 
-----------------     
ORBCOMM reports the opening of its global Network Control Centre (NCC) as the
first 
step in a 10-stage countdown program to provide global communications
solutions to customers 
by the first quarter of 1998.  
Within the next several months ORBCOMM plans to announce two launches and 
the in-service readiness of 10 of the satellites in the constellation. 
 
Alcatel's SkyBridge Signs up Toshiba
------------------------------------
 SkyBridge Limited Partnership announced today that Toshiba Corp. of Japan
has 
agreed to invest in the $3.5 billion SkyBridge satellite project.
The project, which will provide broadband access for high-speed Internet and
multimedia 
services, is led by global telecommunications giant Alcatel Alsthom and
includes Loral Space & 
Communications Corp. as a partner.
The SkyBridge system is based on a constellation of 64 low-earth orbiting
(LEO) 
satellites, which will deliver global connectivity to business and
residential users with a 
performance similar to terrestrial broadband technologies (downstream speeds
of up to 60 Mbps, 
with up to two Mbps on the return link). SkyBridge will be an ideal platform
for the provision of 
real-time, highly interactive services such as high-speed Internet access,
telecommuting, 
videoconferencing, and interactive entertainment services.
SkyBridge will begin service provisioning in 2001.  Services will be
delivered locally 
through local telecom operators and service providers.
Public Broadcasters to Deliver
------------------------------
Public broadcasters have developed a digital transition strategy designed to
ensure 
universal access to an abundance of new educational services and programs to
serve the public 
interest well into the next century.
Public broadcasters estimate the total cost for enabling the nation's public
television and 
radio stations to transmit digitally to exceed $1.7 billion, which includes
the costs of the basic 
transmission package, master control, production equipment, DTV operation and
radio.
Despite lacking the same access to capital as commercial broadcasters, public
television 
and radio stations propose raising nearly $1 billion of the costs themselves.
 Planning efforts are 
underway to help public broadcasters raise their share of funds from local
businesses, listeners, 
viewers, and other sources.
Building upon three decades of partnership with the federal government,
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