FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPACEHAB
RECEIVES $10.5 MILLION FOLLOW-ON CONTRACT WITH BOEING
FOR SPACE CARGO SERVICES
Washington, D.C., November 30, 2000 — SPACEHAB, Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space services, today announced that it was awarded a follow-on contract with The Boeing Company that expands the companies' existing collaboration in commercial space development. Under this agreement, SPACEHAB is providing Boeing $10.5 million in additional payload accommodation services for an upcoming mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Boeing is NASA's prime contractor for the ISS. SPACEHAB's new service agreement with the company is a follow-on to an existing $5.1 million contract with Boeing covering the provision of similar services for Shuttle mission STS-102 (ISS assembly flight 5A.1), scheduled to launch in 2001. This contract was the first signed under a memorandum of understanding between the two companies to jointly define ISS-related commercial initiatives that could yield greater flexibility and lower costs for NASA.
To fulfill this new service agreement, SPACEHAB is providing a new External Stowage Platform. Known as ESP2, this platform will be launched on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Space Shuttle and deployed from the Shuttle's cargo bay to the ISS. ESP2 will be transported to orbit on Shuttle mission STS-114 (ISS utilization and logistics flight 1), scheduled to launch in June 2002. This mission will mark SPACEHAB's first flight of a deployable cargo carrier. It also will mark the first-ever deployment of an external cargo carrier from the Shuttle's cargo bay to the ISS, according to NASA's current Shuttle launch plans.
"Demand for space station resupply and stowage capability should grow as ISS assembly advances," said SPACEHAB President David A. Rossi, "and we expect that deployable cargo carriers will continue to play a vital role in ISS operations. We're pleased to be expanding our partnership with Boeing in providing commercial services to the ISS."
The ESP2 will carry a complement of critical spare parts (termed orbital replacement units, or ORUs, by NASA) to the ISS. ESP2 will be deployed from the Space Shuttle by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (robotic arm) and attached to the air lock of the ISS as a permanent spare-parts stowage facility — a sort of depot in space.
The ESP2 is a modified version of SPACEHAB's "generic" Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), which has carried equipment and supplies on three Space Shuttle missions to the ISS to date. The ICC's two primary components are an unpressurized cargo pallet and a keel-yoke assembly that supports the pallet in the Shuttle's cargo bay. SPACEHAB's strategic partner Astrium GmbH is the maker of the keel-yoke assembly and serves as SPACEHAB's ICC mission integration contractor. The ESP2 includes a cargo pallet specially outfitted with release mechanisms to permit ORU removal and replacement and cable systems to provide power directly from the ISS to individual payloads.
ISS is now orbiting overhead — visible from Earth in the night sky, ISS is the largest international space venture ever undertaken and a historic joint effort of 16 countries. When fully assembled in 2006, it will house a crew of seven. The pressurized living and working space aboard the completed station will be more than 1,303 cubic meters (46,000 cubic feet). The first resident crew, Expedition One, is now onboard for a four-month stay. The U.S. Laboratory will be launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in January 2001.
SPACEHAB is a leader in the business of space station resupply. The company's "generic" ICC is booked to fly a fourth time on Shuttle mission STS-102 (ISS assembly mission 5A.1), scheduled to launch in February 2001, and again on STS-105 (ISS assembly mission 7A.1), scheduled to launch in June 2001. SPACEHAB's Research and Logistics Mission Support contract with NASA contains options that allow the agency to book SPACEHAB modules and carriers for flight on short notice. SPACEHAB is offering other variations of its generic ICC, including a vertical cargo carrier (ICC-V) and a shortened carrier (ICC-Light). The company stands ready to meet space station resupply needs as ISS assembly and operation proceeds.
Founded in 1984, with more than $100 million in annual revenue, SPACEHAB, Inc., is a leading provider of commercial space services. The company is the first to develop, own, and operate habitat modules and cargo carriers providing laboratory facilities and resupply capabilities aboard NASA's Space Shuttles. It also supports astronaut training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, builds space-flight trainers and mockups. SPACEHAB's Astrotech subsidiary provides commercial satellite processing services at facilities in Florida and California in support of a range of expendable launch vehicles, including Lockheed Martin's Atlas and Boeing's Delta and Sea Launch rockets. SPACEHAB's newest strategic growth initiative, Space Media, Inc. (SMI™, a subsidiary), will bring space into homes and classrooms worldwide with television and Internet broadcasting from the International Space Station.
This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, whether the company will fully realize the economic benefits under its NASA and other customer contracts, the timing and mix of Space Shuttle missions, the successful development and commercialization of new space assets, technological difficulties, product demand, timing of new contracts, launches and business, market acceptance risks, the effect of economic conditions, uncertainty in government funding, the impact of competition, and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
For more information:
Linda Billings
Director
of Communications
SPACEHAB,
Inc.
202/488-3500;
toll-free 888/647-9543
billings@hqspacehab.com