Loral Skynet, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, today said that its Telstar 4 satellite experienced a short circuit of its primary power bus today at 8:56 a.m. EDT (1256 GMT), causing the satellite to cease operations. Loral Skynet immediately made capacity available to most Telstar 4 customers, many of whom have already had their services restored on Loral's Telstar 5 and Telstar 6 satellites.

Loral Skynet and Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the satellite, are working to determine the cause of the problem and to restore service on the satellite, if possible. The satellite is insured for $141 million.

Telstar 8, currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral, will replace Telstar 4, as planned, at 89 degrees West in mid-2004.

Telstar 4 coverage includes the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and southern Canada. Telstar 4 was launched in September 1995.

Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. It owns and operates a global fleet of telecommunications satellites used by television and cable networks to broadcast video entertainment programming, and by communication service providers, resellers, corporate and government customers for broadband data transmission, Internet services and other value-added communications services. Loral also is a world-class leader in the design and manufacture of satellites and satellite systems for commercial and government applications including direct-to-home television, broadband communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring and air traffic management.