The Hague, The Netherlands, July 27, 2001 - New Skies Satellites N.V., (AEX, NYSE: NSK) announced today that the three-person panel hearing the arbitration case regarding New Skies’ cancellation of a satellite contract has unanimously resolved the case in favor of New Skies. The arbitration case has been described in New Skies’ public financial disclosures.

The decision found that New Skies’ termination for cause of the satellite contract with satellite manufacturer Astrium was proper. This entitles New Skies to a return of payments made amounting to $53,251,842.00. New Skies has carried the disputed amount on its balance sheet as a receivable since the fourth quarter of 1999.

In November 1999, New Skies terminated the construction contract for a satellite, named KTV, because the manufacturer failed to deliver the satellite on time, leading to the loss of significant contracted revenues. New Skies’ notice of termination was challenged by the manufacturer and New Skies filed for arbitration, to be conducted in Washington D.C. under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce Court of International Arbitration.

“Our decision to cancel the KTV satellite contract was a difficult one, and made only after considering other options,” said Robert W. Ross, Chief Executive Officer of New Skies Satellites. “We are obviously pleased that the arbitrators have found that our decision was proper.”

“At the time of our Initial Public Offering in October of last year, the arbitration proceeding was listed in our prospectus as a risk factor. The finding of the court now eliminates this risk factor.”

ABOUT NEW SKIES SATELLITES (AEX, NYSE: NSK)
New Skies is a global satellite communications company with five satellites in geosynchronous orbit and ground facilities around the world. New Skies has three new spacecraft under construction, which are planned to serve the Atlantic Ocean Region, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and with offices in Johannesburg, London, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C., New Skies is one of only three fixed satellite services companies with truly global satellite coverage. New Skies offers video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations and Internet service providers around the world.

By combining its satellite resources with terrestrial communications facilities, New Skies is developing a broadening range of state-of-the-art, value-added, high-quality satellite communications services. New Skies’ fastest growing revenue stream comes from data transmissions, including Internet traffic and corporate networks. New Skies estimates that approximately 61% of new business in 2000 was for Internet services. The company completed its Initial Public Offering in October 2000, listing on both the Euronext Amsterdam exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

Additional information is available at http://www.newskies.com.

For any further information, please contact:
Elizabeth Hess, New Skies Satellites
Tel: +31 70 306 4133,
Mobile: +31 6 2906 2492
ehess@newskies.com