Houston, TX (April 10, 2009) - 

AirWard Corporation, a subsidiary of Astrotech Corporation (Nasdaq: SPAB), announced today that it has received an order to provide the first certified containers that meet the Department of Transportation (DOT) CFR 49 thermal resistant container requirements. The order is being manufactured at AirWard’s facilities in Houston, Texas.

 

“We are proud to provide the airline industry with the first certified containers that comply with the new federal requirements for the transport of oxygen cylinders,” said Thomas B. Pickens, chief executive officer for AirWard. “By leveraging space-age engineering and materials, we have created a unique hazardous transport container that can be easily scaled to support our customers’ needs.”

 

AirWard has developed a suite of containers that meet or exceed all critical CFR 49 requirements, including containers for the full range of aircraft oxygen cylinders ranging from 4.25 cf to 115 cf capacities. AirWard was the first company to have certified products meeting the new DOT requirements.

 

“Now that the certification process is complete and the system has passed rigorous testing required under CFR 49, we are excited to provide air carriers with our quality product line," continued Pickens. "We are confident this technology will make air travel safer and are proud to play a role in this important process."

 

About AirWard Corporation

AirWard Corporation, an Astrotech Corporation(Nasdaq: SPAB) subsidiary, was formed to provide a solution to meet the Department of Transportation's 2009 requirements for safe and reliable compressed oxygen cylinder and oxygen generator transportation. Utilizing Astrotech’s 25-year legacy in the development of habitat and laboratory modules and cargo carriers for NASA, the company has developed AirWard Hazardous Cargo Containers for the transportation of hazardous materials. For more information, visit www.airward.net

 

About Astrotech Corporation

 

Astrotech is a commercial 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 spacecraft prelaunch processing facilities and services, production of valuable commercial products in space, development and extension of space-based products to the consumer market, space access and payload integration services 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.