Michael Targoff, vice chairman of the board of satellite company Loral Space & Communications, has been elected CEO, effective March 1.

He succeeds Bernard Schwartz, who is retiring as chairman and CEO.

Mark Rachevsky, president of MHR Fund Management LLC, will become non-executive chairman.

Loral Space & Communications last fall "successfully emerged" from bankruptcy with $180 million in cash and $126 million in debt.

Loral filed for chapter 11 in July 2003 and sold its North American business--five satellites--to Intelsat in March 2004 for something just north of $1 billion. That business included big-time clients CBS and Fox.

The company still has four satellites, two in Asia that service HBO Asia, Sony Entertainment and Disney, among others; one in Brazil that supplies Internet-to-aircraft service; and one that reaches Iraq and is used by numerous news organizations.