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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.8

                       [SKYSTREAM CORPORATION LETTERHEAD]

                                                          Friday, April 17, 1998

Clint Chao
590 Hermosa Way
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 328-6535

Dear Clint:

I am pleased to offer you the position of Vice President of Marketing at
SkyStream Corporation. You will report to myself, Jim Olson, President and Chief
Executive Officer. In this position, you will be responsible for all aspects of
SkyStream's marketing activities. As Vice President of marketing you will
receive a starting base salary of one hundred sixty thousand dollars ($160,000)
per year. You will receive an annual bonus payment of $20,000 for meeting
mutually agreed objectives. You and I will set these objectives within the first
60 days of your employment at SkyStream. Your salary shall be paid twice per
month and is subject to withholding for federal, state and other applicable
taxes.

Further, we will recommend to SkyStream's Board of Directors that you be granted
incentive stock options to purchase 250,000 shares of SkyStream common stock
which will vest over a four year vesting schedule from the date of your
employment. Vesting will be annual vesting for the first year and monthly
vesting the following three years. At your option, you may elect to exercise
your stock options subject to a company Repurchase Right (the "Repurchase
Right"), that would lapse on the same schedule that the stock options would
normally vest.

As an employee of SkyStream, you and your dependents will be entitled to
SkyStream medical, dental, vision, EAP, 401(k), LTD and Life Insurance benefits
as made available to all SkyStream employees. Information on the details of our
plans will be delivered to you separately.

When you report to work, you will be expected to execute our standard company
agreement relative to patents, inventions and confidential information.

This is an offer for "at will" employment, and does not constitute an offer or
guarantee of employment for any period of time. Your employment and compensation
can be terminated at any time for any reason or for no reason, subject to the
terms hereof and your rights to compensation hereunder. This letter constitutes
the full and entire understanding and agreement between the parties with respect
to the subject of employment, and supersedes any prior discussions.

This offer is effective through Tuesday, April 21, 1998. It will expire if not
accepted in writing by that date. I anticipate your start date to be Monday, May
4, 1998, or earlier. I look forward to your acceptance. Please sign and return
one of these letters upon acceptance, and retain the other letter for your
records.

Clint, we are all excited about you joining SkyStream. We believe that your
background and accomplishments are ideal for what we need. I am confident that
you are the right person to lead our marketing function and become a valuable
member of my executive team. The video networking and distribution market is
poised to explode and we excitedly look forward to exploring that opportunity
with you at SkyStream.

Sincerely,

/s/ JAMES D. OLSON

James D. Olson
----------------------------
President and Chief Executive Officer

ACCEPTED:  /s/ CLINT CHAO                 DATED:    4/20/98
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