1.   And those three or four satellites may be owned by three or four different multinational companies.

2.   PanAmSat of Greenwich, Conn., which owns the satellite, has been shifting communications services to other satellites.

3.   Tele-Communications owns two satellites that it has been unable to use because it was beat out by MCI at a January auction for satellite licenses.

4.   TCI, on the other hand, already owns a satellite but lacks an orbital slot in which to put it.

5.   The company called Satmex owns three satellites, two operating centers and the rights to administer a fourth satellite.

6.   The satellite was owned by Intelsat, the vast U.S.-based communications firm.

7.   And he said the Virginia legislature may need to address the issue as more companies own satellites.

8.   It did not say who owns the satellite or how it will be used.

9.   Sukhadolsky refused to specify reasons for the delay, but blamed the company that owns the satellite, Earthwatch Inc. of Boulder, Colo., ITAR-Tass reported.

10.   The satellite was owned by APT Satellite Co., a China-controlled consortium based in Hong Kong.