ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited (ICO) (NASDAQ: ICOG) has revealed that ICO G1 satellite In Orbit Testing (IOT), and testing of the innovative Ground Based Beam Forming (GBBF) system for the ICO Space Segment, are both now complete. The company's subsidiary, ICO Satellite Services G.P., has accepted the Space Segment from Space Systems/Loral. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on April 14, 2008, ICO G1 is the world's first satellite to use a two-way GBBF system.

Delivered and integrated at ICO's gateway in North Las Vegas, GBBF delivers unprecedented flexibility to provide nexgen mobile satellite services. Alpha trials featuring ICO's satellite-terrestrial network are underway in Las Vegas, Nevada and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

Designed and built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ: LORL), ICO G1 has 250 fully configurable transmit and receive beams. SS/L is the first company to successfully develop a two-way GBBF system, and a patent is pending for the company's invention of the technology. With GBBF, spot beams can be added, removed, or reconfigured to enable a satellite to operate from different orbital locations and to adapt to changes in traffic patterns or to provide new applications. With beam forming performed on the ground, the cost and time to deliver a highly flexible satellite are significantly reduced. The satellite employs a large 12 meter mesh antenna reflector, which is essential for delivering services to small mobile and portable devices. Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) (NASDAQ: HUGH) developed and implemented the high-speed signal conditioning and processing ground equipment that enables GBBF.