[Back to Latest
News]
SPACEHAB, INC. AWARDED
A TEN-YEAR CONTRACT TO SUPPORT BOEING LAUNCH PROGRAM
Washington, DC, November
2, 1999 — SPACEHAB, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: SPAB)
announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Astrotech Space
Operations, Inc., has been awarded a 10-year contract to provide
payload processing services for The Boeing Company. This contract
defines support of satellite launches aboard the Boeing Delta
family of launch vehicles from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida.
Astrotech has supported the Delta Program since 1984 and this
award broadens and extends Astrotech's support to Boeing through
2010.
This award compliments the
existing 14-year contract for Astrotech support of the Sea Launch program,
in which Boeing is a major partner. Sea Launch successfully completed its
first commercial launch, carrying the DirecTV-1R satellite, earlier this
month. This was the first of 18 commercial launch commitments under
contract to Sea Launch. Under the terms of the new contract, SPACEHAB will
enlarge the existing Astrotech facilities located in Titusville, Florida,
with the addition of a new satellite preparation facility sized to support
the Delta IV, Boeing's winning entrant in the Air Force Evolved Expendable
Launch Vehicle (EELV) Program. The Delta IV will be used to launch
satellites for government and commercial customers.
In developing the new
facility, Astrotech has worked closely with Boeing engineers to design
structures that will augment the streamlined and efficient launch process
envisioned for the Boeing Delta IV Program. This will enable a significant
increase in the number of Delta launches conducted annually from Cape
Canaveral.
David A. Rossi, President of
SPACEHAB, Inc., hailed the agreement: "The Boeing Delta Program has been a
major domestic provider of satellite launches for several decades and a
substantial customer of Astrotech for many years. We are pleased to have
this opportunity to continue our rewarding and successful relationship
with Boeing, and to usher in the new millennium as part of the Delta IV
team."
Satellite manufacturers use
the Astrotech facility to conduct the final assembly and testing of a
satellite, accomplishing those activities that cannot be completed at the
factory prior to shipment to the launch site. The combination of the
existing Astrotech facilities and the new facility will enable Astrotech
to support the full range of satellite sizes planned for launch aboard
Delta II, Delta III and Delta IV launch vehicles.
SPACEHAB, with its Johnson
Engineering and Astrotech subsidiaries, is the world's leading provider of
commercial payload processing services for manned and unmanned payloads.
SPACEHAB is the first company to commercially develop, own and operate
habitable modules that provide laboratory facilities and logistics
re-supply aboard NASA's Space Shuttles. The Company also supports NASA
astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kimberly Campbell
Manager of
Marketing
SPACEHAB, Inc.
(281) 853-1031
campbell@spacehab.com