The NSS-9 satellite will be located at 183 degrees East longitude, but will also be capable of being deployed to other locations in the SES fleet. The NSS-9 satellite order is the 18th Orbital geosynchronous commercial communications satellite ordered by customers throughout the world, including the North American, European and Asia/Pacific markets.

Mr. Robert Bednarek, President and Chief Executive of SES NEW SKIES, said, "With the procurement of NSS-9 for launch in 2008 and the upcoming launch of NSS-8 in January 2007, SES NEW SKIES will significantly expand its transmission capacity, in-orbit back-up and overall fleet flexibility in the best interest of our customers.

"This ongoing fleet development serves to demonstrate the long-term commitment that the SES Group brings to global satellite coverage and connectivity. We look forward to working closely with Orbital on the NSS-9 mission, and are confident that they will deliver an excellent spacecraft that matches SES' high quality standards."

The NSS-9 is the second order placed in 2006 by an SES GLOBAL member company for satellites based on Orbital's STAR platform. Earlier this year, Orbital teamed with Alcatel Alenia Space to supply the STAR bus and perform systems integration for SES AMERICOM's AMC-21 satellite.

"Our entire team is extremely excited about this new contract win with another of the SES GLOBAL family of satellite service companies," said Dr. Ali Atia, head of Orbital's geosynchronous satellite unit. "With the NSS-9 order, Orbital's STAR-based satellite has once again shown that it is the world's 'platform of choice' for reliable, high-performance spacecraft in the sub-five kilowatt power class."

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