Orbital-Built TELKOM-2 Communications Satellite Successfully Launched Aboard Ariane Rocket

Contact: Barron Beneski, (703) 406-5000,

Orbital-Built TELKOM-2 Communications Satellite Successfully Launched Aboard
Ariane Rocket
Mission Represents Company's Third Geosynchronous Satellite Deployment in
2005

(Dulles, VA 17 November 2005) - Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB)
announced today that the TELKOM-2 commercial communications satellite, built
by the company for PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (PT Telkom) (NYSE: TLK)
was successfully launched into its targeted orbit aboard an Ariane 5 rocket
on Wednesday, November 16. The mission originated from the spaceport at
Kourou, French Guiana at approximately 6:46 p.m. (EST). The TELKOM-2
satellite was deployed into a geosynchronous (GEO) transfer orbit about 34
minutes after lift-off. Initial communications with the satellite have been
established and it is performing as expected in the early stages of the
mission.

The TELKOM-2 launch is the third Orbital-built commercial communications
satellite to be deployed in 2005, following the successful launch and
in-orbit check-out of the Galaxy 14 and 15 satellites for PanAmSat
Corporation. During the next several days, TELKOM-2 will perform a series of
orbit-raising burns of its onboard rocket engine to achieve a circular orbit
22,300 miles above the Earth. For several weeks afterwards, the mission's
engineering team will conduct comprehensive tests to ensure the spacecraft
is ready for final hand-over to PT Telkom, which is scheduled to occur in
December.

The TELKOM-2 satellite will operate in the C-band frequencies from its
orbital location at 118 or 108 degrees East longitude. The satellite is
designed to provide fixed satellite services to a region including all of
Indonesia, as well as areas of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
In addition to providing its state-of-the-art STAR spacecraft bus, Orbital
also supplied the payload and is supplementing PT Telkom's existing ground
segment with a new ground station and upgraded hardware and software.

Orbital is one of the leading suppliers of GEO communications satellites,
which are based on the STAR family of smaller GEO satellite platforms and
are capable of accommodating most types of commercial communications
payloads. For many applications, the STAR design is an attractive
alternative to the larger, more costly GEO satellites offered by other
industry suppliers. The STAR satellites are smaller and are significantly
less expensive to manufacture and launch. They are a perfect fit for
customers in the early stages of building their business or for established
companies that wish to replace or add capacity to their network.

Customer demand for Orbital's STAR GEO satellites has been robust in 2005.
The company has received four firm and one optional order for its STAR-based
GEO satellites thus far this year. In April, PanAmSat ordered its fourth
spacecraft from Orbital, the PAS-11 satellite. This order was followed by an
order for the Horizons-2 satellite by a joint venture between PanAmSat and
JSAT of Japan. In September, Orbital received is third order of the year
when Telenor ASA of Norway contracted with the company for the THOR IIR
spacecraft. Orbital was recently selected for its fourth order of the year
by MEASAT Satellite Systems (MSE: MEASAT) of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to build
the MEASAT-1R spacecraft.




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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info