Telesat to Transfer Its Interests in Telstar 10 Back to APT Satellite Company

OTTAWA, June 1, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telesat Canada, the world's fourth
largest fixed satellite operator, announced today an agreement to relinquish its
leasehold interest in Telstar 10 to APT Satellite Company Limited (APT), the
satellite's owner, and to transfer related customer contracts, for a total
consideration of US$69,500,000, subject to adjustment. Proceeds will be used to
fund replacement satellites or repay debt, in accordance with Telesat's
financing arrangements. The transaction announced today is one of the
transactions previously disclosed as being under consideration involving the
possible disposition of certain of Telesat's international satellites. The
parties expect to complete the transaction in July 2009.

Telesat, through its predecessor company, Loral Skynet, has had a lease
arrangement with APT on Telstar 10 for almost a decade. APT operates the
satellite and also provides technical support to many Telesat customers.

Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat said: "Given APT's deep involvement
with Telstar 10, the complex regulatory environment associated with the
satellite, and the upcoming requirement to replace Telstar 10, this transaction
makes strong strategic sense for both parties and ensures that the users of
Telstar 10 will continue to receive high quality satellite services for the life
of the satellite and its replacement."

For the first quarter of 2009, Telstar 10 accounted for approximately 5% of
Telesat's revenue and less than 1% of its $5.3 Billion contracted backlog.

Telstar 10, one of Telesat's 12 state-of-the-art satellites, is a hybrid
satellite operating in the standard and extended C-bands and the standard
Ku-band frequency ranges. The C-Band payload covers Asia, Japan, Australia, and
parts of Europe and Africa. The Ku-band payload has focused coverage of China
and Korea, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

As announced previously, Telesat continues to be in discussions regarding the
potential sale of its interests in another of its international satellites.
However, Telesat cannot at this time assess the probability of concluding any
further transaction under discussion or under what terms, including price, the
assets may be sold.

About Telesat (www.telesat.com)

Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world,
Telesat is the fourth-largest fixed satellite services operator. The company
provides reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions to
broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. Telesat has a global
state-of-the-art fleet of 12 satellites, and one additional satellite under
construction, and manages the operations of 13 additional satellites for third
parties. Telesat is privately held. Its principal shareholders are Canada's
Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc.
(Nasdaq:LORL).

Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This news release may contain statements that are not based on historical fact
and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this release concerning
the beliefs, expectations, intentions, future events, future performance,
business prospects and business strategy, including statements regarding
projections for 2009 and beyond, are based on several assumptions. If any of
these assumptions are not satisfied or prove to be incorrect, actual results
could differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements,
depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, Telesat's
ability to implement its business strategy and competition in the market. The
information presented in this release reflects Telesat's expectations as of the
date of this release. Telesat undertakes no obligation to update or revise the
information herein.

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CONTACT: Telesat
Vanessa Brule
+1 613 748-8700 ext. 2407
vbrule@telesat.com