Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                                     
July 13, 1993
(Phone:  202/358-0547)                                     
Embargoed until 9:00 a.m. EDT

RELEASE:  93-126

TDRSS C-BAND AGREEMENT RESTRUCTURED

   NASA and Columbia Communications Corp., Honolulu, have 
restructured the agreement under which Columbia leases the 
commercial C-band capacity on board two of NASA's Tracking and 
Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).

   Under terms of the restructured agreement, Columbia will share 
with NASA all revenues received from leasing capacity to third 
parties.  NASA has leased to Columbia twelve 36-Mhz C-band 
transponders on two geostationary TDRS satellites, located at 41 
and 174 degrees west longitude, for a period of 6 years.  Columbia 
is the only separate satellite system offering competitive 
telecommunications services over the Pacific and one of only two 
such separate satellite systems over the Atlantic.

   "Restructuring the agreement furthers NASA's policy to support 
commercialization of space and encourages the growth of 
telecommunications companies.  This shared revenue plan should 
provide even better payments and investment to NASA and the U.S. 
taxpayer," said NASA Associate Administrator for Space 
Communications Charles Force.

   "NASA has shown tremendous creativity in working out this 
agreement with Columbia.  Revenue sharing will help assure 
Columbia's success and will greatly advance international 
satellite competition," said Clifford Laughton, Columbia's 
Chairman.

   Conceived in the 1970s, TDRS was designed to support a variety 
of telecommunications capabilities.  In late 1988, discussions 
were initiated to study commercial use of TDRS's C-band without 
impact to government operations.  As a result of these 
discussions, an agreement was established and in early 1989, NASA 
solicited bids for lease of the C-band.  Columbia submitted the 
high bid and was awarded the agreement.

   The TDRS system is a space-based network that provides 
communications, tracking, telemetry, data acquisition and command 
services essential to the Space Shuttle and low-Earth orbital 
spacecraft missions.  The TDRS system is managed by the Office of 
Space Communications, Washington, D.C. 
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