AeroAstro Announces New, Ultra-Low-Cost,
Satellite Tracking and Monitoring Service

Sensor-Enabled Notification System (SENS) Offers a Revolutionary Tool
for Industrial Operations and Consumers Accessible Via the Internet

Herndon, VA – December 8, 1999

AeroAstro, Inc., the world's premier microsatellite technology company and builder of the first Personal Satellite, has announced the development of a global satellite tracking and messaging service, which offers transmitter prices as low as $75 for a unit smaller than a pager.

The Sensor Enabled Notification System, or SENS, will enable companies and individuals to access the Internet to track and monitor virtually unlimited assets. These assets can be either mobile or fixed, using GPS and a vast array of compatible sensors. Messages are linked through a satellite constellation to deliver global service at prices comparable to a pager service. AeroAstro has been developing SENS for over a year, backed by investments from the Internet service provider industry.

Dr. Rick Fleeter, President and CEO of AeroAstro, said, "Only SENS accommodates both individuals and businesses by providing either single or very large numbers of maintainable tiny sensors at prices so low that industries can equip their entire operation from end to end. Unlike other systems that perform complex functions such as e-mail and voice, SENS focuses on delivering focused, key data directly over the internet.

"The straightforward, inexpensive nature of this system creates 'tendrils of the Internet,' allowing the user to reach out via the Web and obtain information from virtually any object in any region of the globe."

In addition to industrial operations, other SENS applications include "Personal Trackers" for the adventure traveler, and tracking and monitoring of nearly any object. Furthermore, the system inaugurates a new field of "In-Situ Remote Sensing" where data are read from thousands of tiny sensors scattered around farms, industrial sites, and other broad geographic areas for applications such as precision farming and environmental monitoring.

"In less than a decade, every object with a value over $40 will be monitored remotely via the Internet, and millions will do it with SENS," added David Goldstein, AeroAstro's Director of Business Development.

"SENS is the first system to leverage advances in micro-electronics and communications technologies to deliver a global solution so affordable that it revolutionizes the way we use space.

"The system will ultimately deploy ten satellites in two orbital planes, delivering global service to literally tens of millions of transmitters. Several patented, proven innovations enable high-quality service to large numbers of sensors at low cost, using an uplink transmitter as simple as a modern garage door opener.The SENS satellites are based on the Bitsy™ Nanosatellite Core Module, a modular commercial spacecraft product flying a NASA payload in 2001.

The satellites will be launched using the Small Payload Orbit Transfer (SPORT) system, a commercial AeroAstro product enabling small satellites to reach their desired orbits from readily available piggyback launch accommodations.

AeroAstro, a pioneer of micro- and nano-spacecraft applications in science, remote sensing, and communications, is a leader in innovative small satellite applications that open the space frontier. It led the trend towards "smaller, better, cheaper, faster" spacecraft - that is now NASA's mantra - with its highly successful ALEXIS satellite begun in 1988 and currently in its seventh year operating on-orbit.

AeroAstro is now leading the way to a new age of commercial space with flexible tools that enable new users to benefit from unprecedented access to space technology. AeroAstro has designed, constructed, tested and supported the launch of several small satellites. It completed numerous spacecraft systems programs and manufactures low-cost small rocket engines, nano-satellites and spacecraft components. NASA, the Air Force, and commercial and university customers have all employed AeroAstro throughout its 11-year history.