Houston, TX (March 17, 2008) - 

SPACEHAB Incorporated, (NASDAQ: SPAB), a provider of commercial space services, today announced the successful completion of development and testing activities for its new AirWard Container Systems. Planned for unveiling at the Dallas Aviation Industry Expo in Dallas, Texas, March 18-20, 2008, AirWard Containers are the first product to go to market from the Company's new SPACETECH, Inc. subsidiary. SPACETECH is a technology transfer, product development, and sales-focused SPACEHAB business created to transform space-based technologies and products into commercial applications.

 

AirWard Containers were created as a solution to a Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation (CFR 49) update, effective October 2009, regarding the air transportation of hazardous materials such as oxygen cylinders. The revised regulation places much more stringent heat and flame resistance requirements on these containers.

 

In early 2007, through a Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) initiative - a program administered by the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and funded by NASA and the State of Texas to provide free engineering assistance to small U.S. Businesses - SPACEHAB lent its support to Texas Calibration, a woman-owned small business, to identify materials for the development of a DOT-compliant oxygen bottle transportation container. SPACEHAB applied over 20 years of space engineering expertise to this terrestrial problem and developed the AirWard Containers which fully meet, and exceed, all of the applicable requirements. Upon completion of the SATOP partnership, SPACETECH was asked to formally join the project and continue with full-scale development and marketing of the container.

 

The Company has recently completed pre-production testing of the AirWard Container to the new DOT requirements, demonstrating that the design meets and exceeds all requirements. In addition to the thermal and flame resistance testing, impact testing has also been completed. All critical milestones for the certification of the patented AirWard Container design have been achieved and customer deliveries will begin in mid 2008.

 

About SPACEHAB, Incorporated

SPACEHAB is a commercial leader and entrepreneurial force in the space industry providing a full spectrum of products and services to both the government and private sectors. The Company offers space access and payload integration services, production of valuable commercial products in space, spacecraft pre-launch processing facilities and services, development and extension of space-based products to the consumer market, and program and engineering support ranging from development and manufacturing of flight hardware to large scale government project management.

The statements in this document may contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, trends, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, continued government support and funding for key space programs, product performance and market acceptance of products and services, as well as other risk factors and business considerations described in the company's Securities & Exchange Commission filings including the annual report on Form 10-K. Any forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

 

For more information, contact:

Eva-Marie deCardenas
Corporate Marketing and Communications
SPACEHAB, Inc.
713.558.5071
edecardenas@spacehab.com