SPORT Passes Critical Milestone at Joint Review

Orbit Transfer Vehicle Will Provide New Microsatellite Launch Option

Herndon, VA – June 14, 2001

AeroAstro, Inc., America’s premier small satellite technology company, and its partner, Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd (ATSB), Malaysia’s premier small satellite company, have passed the first program milestone in the development of the SPORT (Small Payload ORbit Transfer) vehicle. The SPORT program review was presented to executives from both companies as well as to the Director of the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs, Prof. Dr. Mazlan Othman, and the development team was given authority to proceed to the next phase of the program.

One of the key goals in the SPORT program is to provide affordable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space access for small satellites to new and emerging users of space. By enabling flexible use of the Ariane Structure Auxiliary Payload (ASAP) or other piggyback launch slots on other large launch vehicles, the SPORT orbit transfer module reduces the total cost of dedicated access to LEO for microspacecraft from about $22 million to $6-13 million, depending on the payload mass. The system is especially useful for spacecraft destined for Low Equatorial Orbit (LeqO) for scientific or remote-sensing missions.

Dr. Othman said, "SPORT fills a need among small satellite users and emerging economies for affordable access to space, and I am honored to lend it my support. The partnership between AeroAstro and ATSB is a pathfinding international cooperation that demonstrates the global nature of space."

The first SPORT-enabled mission, SPORT-Alpha, will be launched on the Ariane V Structure for Auxiliary Payloads (ASAP) in late 2002 as a "secondary" payload. SPORT-Alpha will be sandwiched between an Ariane V launch vehicle piggyback structure and the payload satellite. Once released into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), SPORT will transfer the payload to the final destination and release it.

Dr. Ahmad Sabirin, CEO of ATSB, said, "SPORT is a unique product developed by ATSB and AeroAstro, able to serve the small-satellite launch markets, ensuring the launch of small satellites where and when needed. SPORT is a great solution for space access, and it allows the flexibility to launch small satellites to their desired orbits without having to pay the price of a dedicated launch. ATSB engineers have contributed significantly during the program, and the engineers have benefited from working alongside their partners. This experience is useful for supporting Malaysian space activities."

Dr. Rick Fleeter, President and CEO of AeroAstro, added, "The cost of transportation to space has been a bottleneck to realizing the promise of microspace, and the SPORT system offers a new, lower-cost launch option— available right now. SPORT is at the core of a global partnership that is providing frequent, reliable, flexible space access at prices at or below the price of the spacecraft itself."

SPORT utilizes AeroAstro's Bitsy™ core electronics module, developed for the U.S. Air Force and NASA, as its basic building block and operates autonomously with its own processing, communications, propulsion and aerobraking systems. It may also be configured to provide avionics support to its passenger payload, if required. The SPORT system follows AeroAstro's modular "Personal Satellite™" design standards and may be used for a variety of payload sizes and weights as well as different orbit transfers.

AeroAstro, a pioneer of small, micro, and nanospacecraft applications in science, remote sensing and communications, led the trend towards high technology in miniature satellites 3⁄4 now the industry standard. It designed and launched the highly successful ALEXIS satellite currently in its ninth year of continuous operations on orbit. AeroAstro designed and developed the HETE satellite used by MIT as the basis for the successful launch of HETE-2 this year.

AeroAstro is now paving the way to a new age of space communications with a spread-spectrum digital communications network (SENS), enabling users unprecedented connectivity. AeroAstro has designed, constructed, tested and supported the launch of a number of small satellites and currently has three additional spacecraft and numerous space hardware products in development.

AeroAstro provides systems engineering, radio, attitude control and other hardware and software systems for many earth orbit and interplanetary programs. NASA, the Air Force, and commercial and university customers have all employed AeroAstro throughout its 12-year history.

Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd (ATSB) is revolutionizing the space industry in Malaysia, with a core objective of developing spacecraft technology and implementing space applications in Southeast Asia and globally. Tiung-SAT was launched as ATSB’s first satellite, which forms one of the key elements in the strategy to develop Malaysia as a high-technology electronics provider.

This satellite program is designed to be synergistic with the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) program, forming the vision for Malaysia in 2020. Current Astronautic Technology projects include developing remote-sensing satellite constellations for near equatorial low earth orbit, medium aperture camera (MAC) with SatRECi, and development of the Small Payload Orbit Transfer (SPORT) vehicle.

For more information about AeroAstro, ATSB, or the SPORT program, call David Goldstein at 617-451-8630;
visit http://www.aeroastro.com; write AeroAstro, 327 A Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02210; or e-mail info@aeroastro.com. For more information from ATSB, please contact Dr. Ahmad Sabirin Arshad Sdn. Bhd, Suite 3-2, Incubator 3, Technology Park Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; or email sabirin@atsb-malaysia.com.