SES ASTRA and VERHAERT SPACE Secure ESA Contract to Run Belgian Ground Station

SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), and VERHAERT
SPACE, a QinetiQ company, have secured a major long-term service
agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to maintain and operate
the Belgian satellite ground station in Redu. The activities conducted
by the ESA Redu station comprise ground control and in-orbit testing
of satellites for ESA missions.

VERHAERT SPACE and the SES ASTRA subsidiary SES ASTRA TechCom will
provide maintenance and operations services to ESA at the Redu
station. For this purpose, SES ASTRA and VERHAERT SPACE have founded a
joint Belgian company, REDU SPACE SERVICES. The 10-year contract
allows this new company also to offer satellite and operations
services to third party customers. The services contract between ESA
and REDU SPACE SERVICES was awarded following a tender process started
by ESA in November 2006. REDU SPACE SERVICES will begin to operate the
Redu station on 1st July 2007, taking over from the incumbent operator
who has been in place for the last 25 years.

In December 2006, SES ASTRA created a new, wholly owned Belgian
subsidiary of SES ASTRA TechCom, and entered into a partnership with
VERHAERT SPACE, the leading Belgian space system operator, in order to
expand the satellite services in and from Belgium and to develop
active cooperation with other European space companies.

"The ESA contract is another important step in the development of
our service offering for institutional and government customers", said
Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA. "It further
strengthens our close relationship with ESA and can enable us to
position SES to be further involved in important government and
institutional projects. It will also allow us to enhance the use of
the ESA facilities by offering services to third parties and to give
significant impetus to the development of the Belgian space industry.
On this long-term base, we will be even better positioned to fulfil
the needs of institutional and government customers."

"This agreement opens new growth possibilities for SES ASTRA
TechCom and will support the efforts of the Belgian Government to
build a global presence in the satellite sector", said Pascal Rogiest,
Managing Director of REDU SPACE SERVICES. "We are confident that our
joint technical expertise will provide strong support to existing and
future ESA missions on the station, and that our commercial strengths
will contribute to the development of new activities and business on
the site, especially in-orbit testing, satellite operations, and
telecommunications services."

"This partnership is a new step in the development of our
satellite business", said Paul Verhaert, founder of VERHAERT SPACE.
"It represents an important opportunity to create value in our company
and enhance the activities and business scope in Redu."

"The operation services at Redu represent an important asset in
our portfolio of small satellite systems that we offer to ESA and
commercial customers", said Frank Preud'homme, commercial director at
VERHAERT SPACE. "It will allow us to have a full end-to-end system in
our portfolio. A number of small satellite missions developed by
VERHAERT and supported by the Belgian Science Policy are planned to be
supported by the Redu station in coming years. We intend to add a
number of other small commercial missions because our customers
worldwide value highly the capabilities that small satellites provide.
This segment therefore represents an important emerging business for
us, especially for earth observation applications which can be
complemented by our ultralight stratospheric UAV platform Mercator, at
this moment ready to fly, but still in the process to receive
clearance approval from the Belgian authorities."

About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com

SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in
Europe, delivering services to more than 109 million DTH and cable
households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 12
satellites, transmitting 1,864 analogue and digital television and
radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia,
internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments
and their agencies. With 26 High Definition (HD) channels available
via its satellites today, ASTRA is also the most important HDTV
broadcasting platform in Europe. ASTRA's prime orbital positions are
19.2degrees East, 28.2degrees East, and 23.5degrees East.

SES ASTRA is an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES owns
three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES
AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES, which provide global
coverage and connectivity. The Company also holds strategic
participations in SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in
Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions
via a fleet of 36 satellites in 25 orbital positions around the globe.
Additional information on SES is available at: www.ses.com

About SES ASTRA TechCom www.ses-astra.com/techcom

SES ASTRA TechCom provides operational services, technical
consultancy and high-tech products as well as integrated solutions to
the satellite industry. The SES affiliate is offering the technical
expertise and experience of SES ASTRA to satellite manufacturers and
operators as well as to broadcasters and public organisations.

About VERHAERT SPACE www.verhaertspace.com

VERHAERT SPACE is a Belgian space system integrator, based in
Kruibeke, designing and building small satellites, cornerstone
subsystems like the International Berthing and docking mechanism to
interconnect large space craft, and scientific instruments for
research in Space. VERHAERT SPACE became a QinetiQ company in 2005.
VERHAERT SPACE has longterm partnership agreements with VERHAERT New
PRODUCTS & SERVICES, a specialist in industrial New Product
Development.