COMPANIES VIE FOR SOVIET SPACE ADS

Five United States companies are vying to place ads costing more than $1 million on the side of a Soviet space shuttle scheduled for launch Aug. 30, according to a company with exclusive rights to sell the advertising. Soviet-Pacific Enterprises in San Francisco would only identify the five as an oil company, a television network, an international courier, a consumer-goods producer, and a food company.

The ads, printed on thin plastic-like film stuck on the spaceship with an adhesive, will disintegrate within 45 seconds of launch because of the heat generated as the craft cuts through the earth's atmosphere.

Talks with the five companies are in the final stages, says Sam Hollis Jr., marketing director for Soviet-Pacific.