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TELE-satellit News, 9 January 1997


  SEOUL, South Korea, 97/01/09 (TS) -- Orbital Sciences Corp. said it has
signed a contract for the launch the Korean Multipurpose Satellite
(KOMPSAT). It was signed with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)
and involves a launch on Orbital's Taurus rocket. The launch will take
place from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and is scheduled to take
place in mid-1999.

  The deal marks the first time Orbital has been selected for the launch of
an Asian satellite. It follows the announcement earlier this week that the
Taurus has been selected by the Brazilian Space Agency to launch that
country's SCD-2 satellite into space in 1997. The company's next scheduled
space launch is a Pegasus XL mission for the Government of Spain in February.

  The Taurus rocket is a four-stage, ground launched, solid propellant
vehicle capable of placing payloads weighing over 3,000 pounds into
low-Earth orbit, or, with additional upper stages, payloads weighing up to
800 pounds into a higher altitude, geo-synchronous orbit. Taurus made a
completely successful launch debut in March 1994, and is scheduled to carry
out two missions later this year.

  The KOMPSAT satellite is a technology demonstration spacecraft designed
to carry out several scientific missions, including high-resolution
thematic mapping and low-resolution ocean color monitoring.

(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.


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