FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPACEHAB
WELCOMES EQUITY PARTNER IN SPACE MEDIA, INC.
EscottVentures II Investment Expands Working Capital
October 1, 2001, Washington,
D.C. - SPACEHAB, Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial
space services, today announced that its subsidiary Space Media, Inc. (SMI),
has received a $750,000 equity investment from escottVentures II, LLC, of Melbourne,
Florida. SMI's primary business activities are the STARS Academy global education
program and The Space Store, an online retail business.
EscottVentures II has assumed a seat on SMI's board of directors along with its equity stake. SMI intends to use this venture capital investment to help build worldwide enrollment in its STARS Academy global education program and sales of space and educational merchandise through The Space Store.
"We're pleased to have escottVentures II joining forces with us," said Jim Royston, SMI's Vice President of Education. "The principals are excited about growth prospects for STARS Academy and The Space Store and are ready to help us expand our business."
"SMI has a solid business plan and dedicated leadership," said James Massoni, Managing Member of escottVentures II. "We're looking forward to helping Space Media grow."
STARS Academy is an online interactive cultural and scientific exchange program for ages 8-18. The paid-subscription program is a yearlong adventure that takes students across the Earth and oceans and into space on a quest for learning. Endangered species is this year's theme for the "Earth Defenders" component of the program. STARS Academy students will be tracking the movements of endangered leatherback turtles around the world, using data collected and transmitted via satellite.
The U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs has endorsed the STARS Academy and is working with Space Media to build participation in the program throughout the developing world. Currently more than 40 countries have expressed an interest in participating in this year's program.
As part of the STARS Academy's space learning component, "To Mars and Beyond," students will participate in real space research. STARS Academy plans to fly nine experiments this school year, two aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and seven aboard upcoming NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-107. The first STARS experiments flew aboard Shuttle mission STS-93 in July 1999. The experiments included a study of the development of butterflies in microgravity. Artifacts of this experiment were donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in May 2000 and are now on permanent display there.
Space Media's online retail business, The Space Store, is continually expanding its line of merchandise. Earlier this year, it started selling space station foods originally developed by SPACEHAB subsidiary Johnson Engineering and currently on the menu for crew members dining aboard the International Space Station.
Founded in 1984, with more than $100 million in annual revenue, SPACEHAB, Inc., is a leading provider of commercial space services. The company develops, owns, and operates habitat and laboratory modules and cargo carriers aboard NASA's Space Shuttles. It also supports astronaut training and space station configuration management at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and builds space-flight trainers and mockups. SPACEHAB's Astrotech subsidiary provides commercial satellite processing services at facilities in California and Florida. SPACEHAB's newest strategic growth initiative, SPACEHAB Huntsville, will provide customer-focused end-to-end services to the space research community at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. SPACEHAB subsidiary Space Media, Inc.™, brings space into homes and classrooms worldwide with interactive education programs through STARS Academy (www.starsacademy.com), and space merchandise from The Space Store (www.thespacestore.com).
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,
contact:
Linda Billings
Director of Communications
SPACEHAB, Inc. - Washington Office
Phone 202/488-3500 x. 201
Fax 202/488-8251
billings@hqspacehab.com