FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPACEHAB
RESEARCH DOUBLE MODULE TO EMBARK ON DEBUT FLIGHT
NASA REALMS Contract Extension in Progress
Houston, Texas,
August 21, 2002 – SPACEHAB, Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a leading
provider of commercial space services, today announced that the Company’s
Research Double Module (RDM) has been rescheduled for its first flight on
NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-107, which is preparing for liftoff no earlier
than November 29, 2002.
Due to multiple launch schedule delays in the STS-107 mission, NASA has accepted the Company’s proposal for payment of an equitable adjustment for work being performed on this mission. SPACEHAB anticipates pricing negotiations on this proposal to commence within a week.
SPACEHAB’s RDM, a state-of-the-art research facility that flies in the Shuttle’s cargo bay, quadruples the amount of working and living space available to astronaut crews. For STS-107, the RDM will carry almost 9,000 pounds of experiments and equipment, accommodating 30 experiments conducted by more than 80 investigators.
One exciting payload is made possible through a unique commercial education program called STARS, operated by SPACEHAB’s majority-owned subsidiary Space Media Inc. The STARS payload is comprised of six experiments designed by students from around the world. These future engineers and scientists from Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, and the United States have developed biological and physical sciences experiments while working with astronauts and space experts. Results of the students’ space and ground experiments, as well as design concepts and school information, will be available online at www.starsacademy.com/sts107.
Under its Research and Logistics Mission Support (ReALMS) contract with NASA, SPACEHAB provides research and logistics services, such as those furnished on the STS-107 mission, via pressurized carriers and unpressurized pallets. NASA has formally announced that it is preparing for an 18-month extension of this contract that will lengthen the current service through June 30, 2005. The intent of this modification is to extend the period of performance for work to be conducted on STS-118 and, more importantly, to provide options for adding unpressurized and/or pressurized logistics missions using SPACEHAB carriers to the existing contract within the next several months.
In a related development, SPACEHAB also has received a request for proposal from NASA to fly up to an additional 500 pounds of cargo mass on the STS-116 mission currently slated to fly in June 2004. After completion of a structural analysis of the SPACEHAB single module that will raise the current 4800 pounds of available mass to 5300 pounds, SPACEHAB will negotiate the price for flying the additional equipment and supplies for NASA. This increase in mass limit improves revenue potential for STS-116 and other future missions.
“These increased requirements indicate that NASA continues to receive significant value from our services and assets,” said SPACEHAB President Michael Kearney. “We anticipate that our modules and pallets will be used routinely to maximize research during ISS utilization.”
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. Its Johnson Engineering subsidiary 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. Additionally, through The Space Store, Space Media provides space merchandise to the public and space enthusiasts worldwide (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:
Kimberly Campbell
Director of Marketing
SPACEHAB, Inc.
713.558.5049
campbell@spacehab.com