THE HAGUE, Netherlands, October 29, 2004 - New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX, NYSE: NSK), the global satellite communications company, today announced that the sale of the company to affiliates of The Blackstone Group, a leading private investment firm, has been approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

New Skies now expects that the transaction will close on November 2, 2004. Assuming the transaction closes on this date, trading in New Skies’ shares on Euronext Amsterdam and American Depository Shares on the New York Stock Exchange will be suspended as of the close of trading on November 2, 2004.

Following the closing, the corporate entity that presently holds the company’s assets will go into liquidation and the company’s business and operations will be continued by the acquiring company, New Skies Satellites B.V. Holders of New Skies’ ordinary shares in book-entry form and holders of American Depository Shares as of the close of trading on the date of the closing will be entitled to receive payment of the sale distributions.

Dan Goldberg, New Skies’ chief executive officer, said: “We are delighted that we successfully completed the FCC approval process sooner than originally anticipated and are now poised to close the transaction with Blackstone next week. We were pleased with the overwhelming support of our shareholders for the transaction and are focused on ensuring that the sale proceeds are distributed as quickly as possible.”

New Skies expects to make an initial distribution of the sale proceeds to its current shareholders within two weeks after the closing of the transaction. We anticipate that the initial distribution will constitute approximately 95 percent of the sale proceeds. Following this initial distribution, shareholders in New Skies Satellites N.V. will be entitled to a second and final distribution. This final distribution will constitute the remaining sale proceeds and will be made following the expiration of the statutory two-month opposition period in connection with the company's liquidation and provided that any potential opposition has been taken into account.

Further information on the two distributions to shareholders will be provided when the relevant dates have been determined.

About the transaction
New Skies signed a definitive agreement for the sale of the company to affiliates of The Blackstone Group, a leading private investment firm, for $956 million in cash, equivalent to approximately $7.96 per fully diluted share on June 5, 2004. Subsequently, New Skies and The Blackstone Group announced certain regulatory and shareholder approvals necessary for the completion of the transaction, including:

On July 2, 2004, New Skies and The Blackstone Group received early termination of the required waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 for Blackstone’s acquisition of New Skies.

On July 19, 2004, New Skies’ shareholders overwhelmingly approved the sale of the company, with 92.4 percent of shares in attendance voting for the acquisition.

The Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs formally approved the transaction on July 28, 2004.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission formally approved the transaction on October 27, 2004.

About New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK)
New Skies Satellites is one of only four fixed satellite communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering video, data, voice and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations, Internet service providers and government entities around the world. New Skies has five satellites in orbit and ground facilities around the world. The company also has secured certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions for future growth. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C.