AEROSPACE

Hughes Wins Asia Satellite Deal: The Los Angeles-based unit of General Motors Corp. said one of its subsidiaries won most of a $640-million mobile satellite contract by a consortium of Chinese and Singaporean companies. The consortium, Asia Pacific Mobile Telecommunications, plans to launch two satellites to provide the first pan-Asian, satellite-based mobile phone network, in early 1998. When up and running, the system will allow people across a wide swath of Asia to use mobile phones in areas without cellular or fixed-line service. Hughes Electronics’ Hughes Space Communications International has about $500 million of the contract and will provide everything except the launch vehicle, which will be supplied by China’s Long March rocket.