ViaSat Inc. announced increased profits for the quarter ended September 30, 1999, compared to the second quarter of the prior fiscal year. Sales for the second quarter of FY00 were $17.0 million, compared to $18.0 million for the comparable quarter last year. The Company's net income increased 31% to $1.8 million for the second quarter compared to net income of $1.4 million for the second quarter of FY99. Diluted net income per share grew 29% to $0.22 for the quarter compared to $0.17 per share for the second quarter of the prior year.

Sales totaled $34.1 million for the six months ended September 30, 1999, compared to $34.3 million in sales during the same period in FY 99. Net income for the most recent six months increased 31% to $3.6 million, compared to $2.8 million for the first six months of the prior fiscal year. Diluted net income per share for the six months ended September 30, 1999 was $0.44 based on 8.3 million weighted average common equivalent shares outstanding. This is an increase of 29% compared to $0.34 per share for the first six months of the prior fiscal year based on 8.2 million weighted average common equivalent shares.

At the close of Q2 the company's backlog of firm orders was $39.9 million. The total backlog, including options and IDIQ contracts, was $96.2 million. Early in Q3 ViaSat announced a $36.3 million dollar contract with SAIC for broadband transportable satellite terminals and network services for a customer in the energy industry. Although work under the contract actually began during Q2, the contract was not finalized until after the close of the quarter, and is therefore not included in Q2 awards & backlog calculations. Current year-to-date firm awards including the SAIC contract are in excess of $65 million. This compares to a total of $38.7 million in firm orders for the first three quarters of the prior fiscal year.

"We are very pleased with our current competitive outlook," said ViaSat chairman and CEO Mark Dankberg. "The SAIC contract establishes a strong basis for 2-way mesh broadband satellite networking. Commercial sales this year are steadily increasing as a percentage of total sales. Growth in commercial business so far has been driven by the previously announced Star Cruises program, with the impact of the SAIC contract still to be seen. Commercial revenue growth has been offset by lower than anticipated orders and/or schedule slips in several specific defense products & programs. Defense revenue growth will be significantly influenced by the timing of future MIDS production follow-on contracts. Successful completion of our MIDS Production Readiness Program was a very significant positive step towards an anticipated production start-up contract."

Second Quarter Business Highlights

• ViaSat earned a Certified MIDS Manufacturers Register (CMMR) designation due to successful completion of a Production Readiness Program agreement awarded in mid-1997. The ViaSat team is one of only two qualified US sources for manufacture of MIDS terminals, which are anticipated to commence production start-up this fiscal year.
• Completed Phase 1 of the StarWire contract with Star Cruises 30 days ahead of schedule, and accelerated delivery of Phase 2. StarWire DAMA IP satellite terminals will be deployed on all eight Star Cruises ships by the end of December, 1999 vs. the original schedule of February, 2000.
• ViaSat was recognized by Lockheed Martin at its first annual supplier conference in August as one of only four "Star Suppliers" out of its base of 65,000 vendors.

Portions of this release, particularly the comments by the chairman and CEO and the "Second Quarter Business Highlights" section, may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including but not limited to: technologies not being developed according to anticipated schedules, or that do not perform according to expectations; and increased competition and other factors affecting the telecommunications industry generally. We refer you to the documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled Risk Factors in the Company's Form 10-K, which contain and identify other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements.

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