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ORBITAL SET TO LAUNCH SEVEN ORBCOMM SATELLITES ABOARD PEGASUS ROCKET

ORBCOMM Data Communications Network to Expand to 35 In-Orbit Satellites Following Launch

L-1011 Carrier Aircraft at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility Launch Site in Southeastern Virginia Following Cross-Country Flight from California

(Dulles, VA 1 December 1999) -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) is preparing to launch seven ORBCOMM data communications satellites into low-Earth orbit aboard its Pegasus rocket, the company stated today. The Pegasus/ORBCOMM launch is currently scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 4, 1999 at approximately 1:51 p.m. (EST), with an available launch window of 1:46 p.m. to 2:01 p.m. This schedule is subject to completion of final pre-launch testing and acceptable weather conditions at launch time.

The air-launched Pegasus rocket arrived at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Southeastern Virginia yesterday after a five-hour cross-country flight that originated from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, where Orbital prepared the rocket for its mission and integrated the satellites.

The mission sequence is expected to take just over one hour, from the time the Pegasus rocket is released from its L-1011 carrier aircraft, about 50 miles off the Virginia coast, to the time the seventh ORBCOMM satellite is deployed into orbit from the rocket’s final stage. Orbital plans to launch the ORBCOMM satellites into a circular orbit approximately 825 kilometers (or 510 miles) above the Earth, inclined at 45 degrees to the equator.

Over the past three years, the Pegasus rocket has been one of the world’s most reliable launch vehicles, with 13 consecutive successful missions. In those missions, Pegasus rockets have successfully deployed a total of 35 satellites, including 24 for the company’s ORBCOMM Global L.P. affiliate.

Once the seven new satellites are deployed, a team of Orbital and ORBCOMM satellite engineers will begin initial in-orbit check-out procedures, a process that can last up to three months. With the addition of the seven satellites launched in this mission, the ORBCOMM data communications network will consist of 35 satellites plus a worldwide ground network anchored by a state-of-the-art network control center in Dulles, Virginia and over 15 ground stations now in operation or under construction.

ORBCOMM Global offers low-cost, narrow-band data communications services to industrial customers in over 190 countries primarily for tracking mobile assets, such as truck trailers, rail cars and shipping containers, and monitoring fixed assets, such as pipelines, utility meters and storage tanks.

Orbital is one of the largest space technology and satellite services companies in the world, with 1999 revenues targeted to exceed $900 million. The company, which is headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, employs over 5,200 people at its major facilities in the United States, Canada and several overseas locations. Orbital is the world’s leading manufacturer of low-cost space systems and products, including satellites, launch vehicles, electronics and sensors, satellite ground systems and software, and satellite-based navigation and communications products. Through its ORBCOMM and ORBIMAGE affiliates and ORBNAV subsidiary, Orbital is also a pioneering operator of satellite-based networks that provide data communications, high-resolution imagery and automotive information services to customers all around the world.

Contact: Barron Beneski, 7034065000, beneski.barron@orbital.com