DULLES, Va., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbital Imaging Corporation (ORBIMAGE), a leading global provider of Earth imagery products and services, today announced the appointment of Gary E. Payton to the position of Vice President, Engineering and Operations. Mr. Payton's appointment is effective as of July 13, 2000.

Mr. Payton will be primarily responsible for the management and direction of ORBIMAGE's satellite operations and engineering departments. A space industry veteran, Mr. Payton has extensive experience in space launch program management, as well as in satellite and aerospace engineering.

Prior to joining ORBIMAGE, Mr. Payton held several positions with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). From 1997 until July 2000, he was the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation Technology. From 1995 to 1997, he was the Director of NASA's Space Transportation Division. At NASA, Mr. Payton was responsible for strategic planning, program formulation, policy/procedure development and financial affairs.

Prior to joining NASA, Mr. Payton was a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he held a variety of positions in the Department of Defense over a nine- year period, including Deputy for Technology, Director of Theater Missile Defense Sensors, and Assistant Deputy for Technology in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). Prior to his BMDO assignment, Colonel Payton advanced from fighter pilot to Director of satellite systems engineering and project management for the Air Force in a variety of key management positions. Colonel Payton was also the first Department of Defense astronaut to fly on the U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985.

ORBIMAGE President and CEO Gilbert D. Rye said, "We are excited to have Gary Payton join us at this stage of our development. He has significant experience with NASA and the Department of Defense, who are key customers for our imagery products and services. Gary's technical management expertise and leadership skills will benefit our satellite and production operations as we prepare for the next phase of our business. Under his leadership, we will prepare for the planned launch of the first of our high-resolution satellites early next year."

About ORBIMAGE

ORBIMAGE is a leading global provider of Earth imagery products and services, with a planned constellation of five digital remote sensing satellites. The company currently operates the OrbView-1 atmospheric imaging satellite (launched in 1995), the OrbView-2 ocean and land multispectral imaging satellite (launched in 1997), and a worldwide integrated image receiving, processing and distribution network. Currently under development, ORBIMAGE's OrbView-3 and OrbView-4 high-resolution satellites will offer one- meter panchromatic and four-meter multispectral digital imagery. OrbView-4 will also offer the world's first commercial hyperspectral satellite imagery. ORBIMAGE is also the exclusive, worldwide distributor of imagery from the Canadian RADARSAT-2 satellite. ORBIMAGE currently offers one-meter high- resolution panchromatic imagery of major U.S. and non-U.S. urban areas through its OrbView Cities catalog, available at http://www.orbimage.com. In addition, ORBIMAGE distributes imagery from SPOT Image, RADARSAT-1 and Russia's SPIN-2 satellite. ORBIMAGE also offers the SeaStar Pro Fisheries Information Service, which provides fish finding maps derived from OrbView-2 ocean imagery to fishing customers worldwide.

To learn more about ORBIMAGE, visit: http://www.orbimage.com. SOURCE Orbital Sciences Corporation

CONTACT: Sue Hale of ORBIMAGE, 703-406-5838, or email: hale.sue@orbimage.com/