GLOBALSTAR CANADA GRANTED LICENSE TO PROVIDE MOBILE SATELLITE SERVICES

NEW YORK--March 31, 1997--Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NYSE:LOR) announced today that Globalstar Canada has been granted approval by Industry Canada to provide Globalstar satellite-based telecommunications services throughout Canada.

The license is the first big-LEO (low earth orbit) license granted in Canada. Globalstar Canada now joins a group of service providers in over 100 countries planning to offer voice, data, and fax services via Globalstar's LEO satellite system. Globalstar L.P. is a partnership of leading international satellite and telecommunications manufacturers and cellular operators constructing a $3.4 billion Cdn ($2.5 billion U.S.) system of 48 LEO satellites to provide global mobile communications.

Globalstar Canada, the exclusive service provider for Globalstar services in Canada, is jointly owned by Loral Space & Communications, Cancom (Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. - SAT), and AirTouch Satellite Services, Inc. (AirTouch Communications, Inc. (NYSE:ATI)). Globalstar Canada is majority owned and controlled by Cancom, the remaining interest is held by Loral Space & Communications Ltd. and AirTouch Satellite Services, Inc.

Canadian participation is integral to the North American Globalstar network because two of the four gateways on the continent will be in Canada - one is expected to be built in western Canada, the other located in the East. Of the remaining North American gateways, one is under construction in Texas and the other will be in Central Mexico.

Cancom President Alain Gourd announced, "Globalstar will provide uninterrupted coast-to-coast handheld cellular coverage at affordable rates. Cancom is pleased to bring the benefits of this international consortium to Canada." Michael Targoff, chief operating officer of both Globalstar L.P. and Loral Space & Communications Ltd. said, "We are very pleased with the award of this important license. Globalstar is well-suited to provide telecommunications services in Canada, and this award ensures that Globalstar will be able to provide uninterrupted service throughout North America."

The first launch of Globalstar satellites is scheduled for the fall of 1997. Full global service will be initiated with 40 satellites in late 1998, with the full constellation of 48 satellites and eight in-orbit spares in the first half of 1999. The Globalstar system will provide basic voice telephony and an array of affordable mobile satellite services, including enhanced telephony services such as call forwarding, conferencing, and call waiting, data, messaging and fax services, paging, and position locating services virtually anywhere in the world.

Most of the Globalstar user terminals anticipated for the North American market will be dual-mode; i.e. capable of providing access to both the Globalstar satellite system and the user's terrestrial cellular service. In areas with cellular coverage, the phone will choose the local cellular network before searching for the satellite. In areas outside of cellular coverage, the phones, or terminals, will communicate up to a Globalstar satellite which then bounces the signal back down to the nearest earth station and will interconnect to the local telephone system (PSTN) or private networks. This configuration is a significant regulatory advantage enjoyed by Globalstar around the world, since it maximizes the use and support of the terrestrial telephone infrastructure, and ensures that domestic regulations (such as the requirement to use Teleglobe in calls out of Canada) can be honored.

In Canada and the United States, the primary market segments are customers who travel worldwide and need a single reliable phone connection, or customers who travel in North America beyond the range of cellular or wireline telephone systems. Cancom anticipates that this new system will also support the expansion of the service Cancom Mobile provides to the transportation industry in Canada.

Cancom is the foremost provider of digital satellite services in Canada. Cancom's Broadcast Division offers digital TV and radio signals in English and French to 2,525 small cable systems reaching 3.7 million homes across the country. Cancom's Business Division rovides customized integrated satellite and terrestrial mobile, data and Internet networks and Cancom's Business Television is the country's primary provider of permanent and on request multi- point private broadcasting networks as well as the One Touch interactive distant learning systems. Cancom is the exclusive distributor of QUALCOMM's mobile geostationary OmniTRACS system in Canada.

AirTouch Satellite Services Inc. is a subsidiary of AirTouch Communications Inc. AirTouch Communications is a global wireless communications company, with interests in cellular, paging, and PCS in the United States, Belgium, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain and Sweden, as well as interest in Globalstar L.P. AirTouch has Globalstar service provider rights in the U.S. and nine other countries. The company, based in San Francisco, serves over 8 million proportionate customers worldwide.

Loral Space & Communications Ltd., headquartered in New York, is a high technology company that primarily concentrates on satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services. Loral recently announced an agreement to increase its ownership in Space Systems/Loral to 100 percent, and completed its acquisition of the Skynet Satellite Service division of AT&T. Loral also manages and is the largest equity owner of Globalstar, an international partnership that will provide a new generation of satellite-based telephony services worldwide in late 1998.

Globalstar, L.P. (NASDAQ:GSTRF), based in San Jose, California, is a limited partnership led by Loral Space & Communications. In addition to co-founder QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOMM) of San Diego, California, the partnership includes 10 of the world's leading telecommunications service providers and satellite equipment manufacturers.

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