AeroAstro Opens New Headquarters and
Custom-Built Satellite Manufacturing Facility

Ashburn, VA, June 24, 2002

AeroAstro, Inc., a Virginia small satellite and communications company, opened its new custom-built headquarters and satellite manufacturing facility in an invitation-only Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 18, 2002. The ceremony was held at the new plant in Ashburn, Virginia, in Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County near Washington, DC and Dulles Airport.

Senator George Allen of Virginia offered congratulations, saying in a statement, “It is wonderful to have such a stable and productive company continue to prosper in the Commonwealth. As we look toward the future, I hope that AeroAstro will continue to experience the magnificent growth rate that it has maintained over the past three years.” Several local dignitaries also participated in the event, including Charles A. (Chuck) Harris, Loudoun County Supervisor, who presented AeroAstro with a plaque during the celebration.

The Ashburn, Virginia facility was custom-designed for AeroAstro’s innovative microsatellite manufacturing techniques, and encompasses 24,000 square feet of office, laboratory, shop, clean room and lockable storage space. The design incorporates electronic access control systems and includes three clean rooms for assembly and integration of satellites, integrated with two large laboratory spaces and about 100 engineering workstations, a range of meeting rooms, and a large training/design review conference room.

Dr. Rick Fleeter, President and CEO of AeroAstro said, “AeroAstro’s substantial growth over the past several years has been a result of the hard work of a great team of individuals. We are excited to be relocated to new Headquarters that we were able to custom design from the ground up for low-cost space systems development, and we look forward to giving our customers the newest satellite manufacturing facilities in the world for their projects.”

AeroAstro's headquarters was in Herndon, Virginia for twelve years, but to accommodate three years of 100% annual growth, the company saw the need to graduate into a larger facility. AeroAstro also retains a 7,000 square foot engineering and business facility in Boston, Massachusetts, and small offices in Stennis, Mississippi and in San Diego, California.

The new facility has enough capacity to build six moderately-sized spacecraft at once plus develop multiple component and technology projects, as well as develop systems requiring optical instrumentation and calibration. Two spacecraft, SPORT (being built for Malaysia) and STPSat-1 (being built for the U.S. Air Force), are approaching the fabrication stage already. A standard loading dock with overhead door and high ceilings throughout the facility enable integration, packing and shipment of large hardware items. AeroAstro has environmental test capability in house for temperature and vacuum testing, accelerated lifetime testing, and thermal cycling. It has special facilities for resident foreign engineers and for both experimental technology programs and complete satellite integration.

The Grand Opening event featured a local bluegrass band and a BBQ dinner with local Virginia beer and wines.

AeroAstro, a pioneer of micro and nanospacecraft applications in science, remote sensing, and communications, is a leader in innovative small-satellite applications that open the space frontier to a larger and more varied constituency. It led the trend towards "smaller, faster, better, cheaper" spacecraft æ which became NASA's mantra æ with its highly successful ALEXIS satellite begun in 1988 and currently in its ninth year operating on-orbit.

AeroAstro is now leading the way to a new age of commercial space with flexible tools that enable 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 satellite systems and components. NASA, the Air Force, and commercial and university customers have all employed AeroAstro throughout its 14-year history.