Executive Moves

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Loral Skynet Announces Retirement of Charles W. Davidson

Bedminster, NJ/March 11, 2002/Satnews/ -- Loral Skynet, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, today announced that Charles W. Davidson, vice president of satellite and teleport operations, will retire from the company on March 15.

"Mr. Davidson made a substantial contribution in his 15 years at Skynet. We will miss his leadership and creativity, his ability to put the most complex of problems in simple terms, and his high standard of personal integrity," stated Terry Hart, president, Loral Skynet. "We wish him well in all of his future
undertakings."

Davidson is a graduate of Union College, Schenectady, New York and Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, New Jersey and holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Systems Science. He spent 34 years at AT&T in a number of software development, product management, and satellite and terrestrial engineering and operations positions. Mr. Davidson joined Skynet, then a part of AT&T, in 1987, and remained with Skynet when Loral acquired it in 1997.

Davidson and his family reside in Long Valley, New Jersey. 

Loral Skynet of Bedminster, N.J. is a leading satellite communications services provider that operates the Telstar satellite fleet. The fleet provides C-band and Ku-band coverage over the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean, as well as Europe, Asia, South America, northern Africa and South Africa. Customers lease transponder capacity to distribute network television programming, to collect live video feeds for the reporting of news and events, to provide Internet connectivity to Internet service providers and other users, and to offer direct-to-home and pay-per-view programming, distance learning, educational, and other business television services. Loral Skynet also provides technical consulting, as well as tracking, telemetry, and control of satellite fleets for a wide variety of customers.

Loral Space & Communications is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on satellite-based services and satellite manufacturing, including broadcast transponder leasing and value added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, broadband data transmission, content and Internet services. 

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Sirius Strengthens Management Team With Addition of Chief Technology Officer; Satellite Radio Broadcaster Names Terry Smith VP, CTO

New York/March 12/Satnews/  -- Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) , the satellite radio broadcaster, today announced it has named Terry Smith as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Smith, who comes to Sirius after more than 20 years with the Sarnoff Corporation, reports to Michael S. Ledford, Senior Vice President, Engineering.

Smith spent the past decade working as Sarnoff's Director, DTV Professional Systems, where he oversaw the development of digital television systems. During his 22 years at Sarnoff (formerly RCA Research Labs), he led the technical teams responsible for the development and implementation of satellite television for DIRECTV, HDTV and the world's first real-time MPEG2 Video Encoder, now widely used throughout broadcast and cable television, as well as DVD players. Smith also worked on the development of a variety of Emmy-award winning digital video technologies.

"Terry is a recognized inventor, innovator and industry leader whose contributions have had a major impact on many of today's digital video products," said Joe Clayton, President and CEO of Sirius. "We are fortunate to have him on our team as we aggressively move forward in the burgeoning field of satellite radio."

Smith, who earned degrees at the University of Notre Dame and Drexel University, holds or shares 16 U.S. patents in the field of television and digital television. At Sirius, he will be responsible for building up the receiver engineering team, as the company continues to expand.

From its three satellites orbiting directly over the U.S., Sirius (http://www.sirius.com/) broadcasts 100 channels of digital quality radio to motorists throughout the continental United States for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. Sirius delivers 60 original channels of completely commercial-free music in virtually every genre, and 40 world-class sports, news and entertainment channels. Sirius has agreements to install AM/FM/SAT radios in Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Dodge and Jeep(R) vehicles. Kenwood, Panasonic, Clarion and Jensen satellite receivers, including models that can adapt any car stereo to receive Sirius, as well as home and portable products, will be available at retailers such as Circuit City, Best Buy, Good Guys, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics and Crutchfield.

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Sally Mindard Elected to Loral Board of Directors

New York/February 1, 2002/Satnews/  -- Loral Space & Communications (NYSE:LOR) announced today the election of Sally Minard to the company's board of directors.

Ms. Minard, 59, a prominent marketing and advertising executive throughout her 30-year business career, has been a leading advocate on public policy matters, including the advancement of women and family issues.

"We are very pleased to welcome Sally Minard to the Loral board," stated Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and chief executive officer of Loral. "With her extensive experience in the fields of marketing communications and advertising, and her participation as a leader and supporter of many important public sector institutions, she brings an important, fresh perspective to the board's work."

In 1986, Ms. Minard co-founded Lotas Minard Patton McIver, an advertising and marketing communications firm that developed programs for companies and institutions, including New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, Coty, Novogen, NYU Stern School of Business, Mead Johnson, Hearst Corporation and Proctor & Gamble. During her tenure at LMPM, Ms. Minard served for two years as president of Advertising Women of New York, and as director and treasurer of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Prior to founding LMPM, Ms. Minard held management positions at Lord Geller Federico Einstein and Lintas.

Ms. Minard currently serves as a director of the American Red Cross (NY) and is co-chair of the Women's Leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee. She previously served as president of the New York Women's Agenda. Ms. Minard received a bachelor's degree in history from Smith College, where she served as president of the student government. She resides with her family in New York City.

Loral Space & Communications is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services, including broadcast transponder leasing and value added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, broadband data transmission, content and Internet services.

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Flemming is Globecomm's New VP-Sales

Satnews/ -- Globecomm Systems has recently named Patrick Flemming a its corporate vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to his appointment, he was employed as vice president of Latin American Operations/Worldwide Services Division of Lucent Technologies.

Patrick's addition to Globecomm's executive team is expected to promote the company's plan in taking the next generation technology to market. Flemming is now working closely with the management to design and execute Globecomm's 'go to market strategy.'

Globecomm Systems provides end-to-end, value-added satellite-based communications services, and satellite ground segment systems and networks, which support a wide range of satellite communications applications. The Company's wholly owned NetSat Express subsidiary is a leader in providing end-to-end satellite-based Internet solutions around the world. Currently, NetSat Express offers start-up and expanding ISPs and other enterprises a wide range of solutions, including Internet backbone connectivity, network applications, back-office capabilities, POP infrastructure, Web hosting and network management services. Both Globecomm Systems' and NetSat Express' customers include communication service providers, multinational corporations, Internet Service Providers, content providers and government entities.

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Johnson Space Center Getting New Chief

Houston, TX., February 13, 2002/SatNews/ -- NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe on Tuesday named Jefferson Howell Jr., a retired Marine Corps general with strong technical and financial management experience in aerospace, to become the director of the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Howell succeeds Roy Estess, who has served as Johnson's interim director since Feb. 23, 2001.

Estess, the director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., took the Houston assignment temporarily when George Abbey was removed from the director's job in response to a projected $5 billion cost overrun in the international space station program.

Effective April 1, the appointment makes Howell a key associate in O'Keefe's campaign to bring management and cost reforms to NASA's human spaceflight programs. Cost overruns have forced the space agency to back off plans to enlarge the station from a three- to a seven-person facility and cut back on research activities, measures that have disgruntled the program's European, Japanese and Canadian partners.

Last week, the Bush administration included a 10 percent cut in spending on human spaceflight programs as part of the proposed 2003 NASA budget. Additional reductions are forecast through 2007.

Funded at $4.2 billion this year, the Johnson Space Center employs 16,600 federal civil servants and contractor personnel in Houston's Clear Lake community. The federal facility remains the largest of 11 NASA facilities spread between the East and West coasts in spite of planned cuts in human spaceflight spending.

"Throughout his military and civilian careers, Jeff has been a leader, an innovator and a team builder. He's the right person to lead the NASA center that is the cornerstone of our human spaceflight operations," O'Keefe said.

Through a spokesperson, Howell said he would not comment on his plans for Johnson until he takes over in April.

"As we face the challenges of the upcoming year, we will work together, maintaining our commitment to safety and bringing the benefits of space home to the people of Earth," he said in a statement.

Howell is employed by Science Application International Corp., a California-based research and engineering company. As a senior vice president, he manages the company's 525-person space station and shuttle safety contract with NASA. He joined the company in February 1999 as the contract's deputy program manager.

In 1998, Howell retired from the Marine Corps as a lieutenant general after a 37-year career. In his final assignment, Howell was responsible for the operational readiness of 80,000 Marine personnel in the Pacific region and managed an annual budget greater than $1 billion.

A native of Victoria, Howell earned bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and economics from the University of Texas. As a Marine aviator, he flew more than 300 combat missions in Vietnam.  

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Keith Valeri Named New England Satellite Systems General Manager

Satnews/ -- New England Satellite Systems is proud to announce the arrival of Keith Valeri as their General Manager.  "We are overjoyed to have Keith as part of NESAT," said John Foley, company President.  Keith comes to us with a strong background in not only in New Media but Sales and Marketing, Production, and Webcasting.

He will manage the entire NESAT team to further develop their reputation as one of the best in the industry. Valeri has served as a presenter at Telecon West, The National Performance Review, e-Learning and The Government Video Expo.   Most recently Valeri was Director of New Media/Sales and Marketing for Beach Associates.

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Robert Crandall Named Senior Advisor to AirTV

New York, January 30, 2002/Satnews/ -- Robert Crandall has become a senior advisor to AirTV, bringing more than 30 years of airline management experience to the company that will provide the airline industry with television programming, e-mail/Internet connectivity and flight safety data to airborne aircraft worldwide.

Crandall is acknowledged as one of the airline industry's most dynamic and innovative executives, having held top management positions at American Airlines and TWA. He retired from American Airlines in 1998 after transforming the carrier during his 18 years as President and subsequently, Chairman and CEO.

“I am pleased to have an opportunity to work with AirTV, since I think the company can help bring the airline industry and its customers the entertainment products they want in the most cost efficient way possible,” Crandall said. “The airline industry has always focused on its customer’s desires; at the same time, the industry’s economics clearly require a close focus on both the best possible service and the lowest possible costs. I hope to play some part in matching the industry’s needs and desires with AirTV’s capabilities.”

AirTV is developing an aircraft broadband network of four high-capacity S-band satellites to provide real-time TV, audio, Internet, e-mail and flight information services to aircraft flying all the world's main air routes. The system will consist of four dedicated geostationary satellites, each of which will deliver 80 Mbps of direct-to-aircraft (DTASM) connectivity. AirTV plans to start its service in 30 months.

"Bob Crandall brings unparalleled airline experience and industry credibility to AirTV,” said John Larkin, AirTV’s Chairman and CEO.  “I am very pleased that Bob is joining AirTV, and that he believes our approach to providing in-flight aircraft with cost effective, worldwide television and broadband connectivity will herald a real change in the airline industry.”

Crandall is recognized as combining a vision of the future with the practical operational needs of airlines. During his 25 years with American Airlines, he led the upgrade of American’s SABRE reservation system, which became the leading provider of airline computer services worldwide; developed deep discount fare programs that were adopted as industry norms; launched the airline industry’s first frequent-flier program; and introduced revenue-maximizing management techniques that became standards in the industry. 

The AirTV system is being developed by an industry team composed of world leaders in their fields: Alcatel, Arianespace, CMC Electronics and SITA. In addition, AirTV has established strategic alliances with Tenzing Communications and Rockwell Collins, which will provide on board equipment and infrastructure to support the AirTV system.

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