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                                                                  EXHIBIT 99.2

                                 GALILEO NEWS
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        Contact:  Greg Riedel, Chief Financial Officer - (508) 347-4222

                    GALILEO REPORTS LOSS OF LARGEST CUSTOMER
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STURBRIDGE, MA, FEBRUARY 12, 1997 - Galileo Corporation (NASDAQ, NM:GAEO),
today reported that it has received written notification from its largest
customer, Xerox Corporation, that Xerox has developed internal production
capabilities for dicorotron assemblies and will no longer purchase these
assemblies from Galileo. These assemblies accounted for approximately $20.4
million, or 48%, of Galileo's revenues of $42.6 million for fiscal 1996 and
approximately $3.8 million, or 39%, of Galileo's revenues of $9.7 million for
the quarter ended December 31, 1996. Reduced revenues from this product will
materially adversely affect Galileo's financial performance for at least the
remainder of fiscal 1997 and likely will result in a loss for the fiscal year.

William Hanley, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "While we are
disappointed by the abrupt end of our relationship with Xerox and understand
that the impact of reduced revenues from Xerox will be significant to Galileo's
financial performance for the near-term, we believe that our strategy of
diversification into both medical and telecommunication products, as well as
the continued health of our Scientific Detector Products Group, provides a
strong foundation for future growth." He continued, "As an example of the
potential of our Medical Products Group, we recently signed a multi-million     
dollar initial order with Sofamor Danek Group, Inc., for a new proprietary
single use endoscope to be used in a new minimally invasive spinal procedure.
We will be issuing further details regarding this order shortly."

Galileo Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets products based on its
core fiberoptics and electro-optics technologies for applications in office
equipment, analytical instruments, process analysis, telecommunications, and
medical instruments. Galileo markets its products to OEMs, through marketing
partners, and direct to end-users.

Galileo Corporation    Galileo Park    P.O. Box 550    Sturbridge, MA 01566 USA