XTAR Selects Arianespace to Launch Satellite

XTAR, a Washington, D.C.-based joint venture of Loral Space & Communications [OTCBB: LRLSQ] and Spain’s Hisdesat, has signed a launch agreement with Arianespace to launch its XTAR-EUR military satellite aboard an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle. Financial terms were not disclosed. The XTAR-EUR satellite is now undergoing final testing at Space Systems/Loral‘s Palo Alto, Calif., facility before its scheduled launch in the early second quarter of 2004. XTAR-EUR, which weighs 3,600 kilograms (7937 pounds), will be located at 29 degrees East Longitude and have 12 wideband and high-power X-band transponders.