Spacehab's Engineering Services unit has signed a contract with the municipal government of Shanghai, China, to fabricate and install an Earth Exploration exhibit for the city's new Shanghai ScienceLand science and technology museum, a $180 million project, now under construction. Spacehab's participation in ScienceLand's current construction activity is phase one of a planned two-phase project.

Spacehab Engineering Services supports the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, both used for astronaut training, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Engineering Services also builds full-scale flight mockups and trainers for these facilities.

Building on these core competencies, Engineering Services has been designing and fabricating museum exhibits and displays for a number of customers, including Disneyland, Moody Gardens (Galveston, Texas), and Space Center Houston. The Shanghai ScienceLand project represents the largest contract obtained by Engineering Services to date with a customer other than NASA.

"With this contract, Spacehab is building on its considerable expertise in space-related engineering and design and expanding into a new and growing global market," said Spacehab Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Shelley A. Harrison.

Shanghai ScienceLand officials are in discussions with Spacehab's Space Media(TM), Inc., subsidiary regarding the possibility of obtaining television and Internet downlinks from Spacehab's Enterprise(TM) space station habitat. Planned for launch in early 2003, Enterprise will be the world's first commercial real estate in space. Enterprise will house a TV and Internet broadcasting studio, and Space Media is developing and marketing programming to be provided from this facility.

Spacehab's contract with Shanghai ScienceLand is an outgrowth of a 1999 trade mission to China led by the City of Houston and including Spacehab officials. Following the Houston delegation's visit, officials of ScienceLand and the City of Shanghai visited Houston, and Spacehab Engineering Services subsequently was invited to submit a proposal for ScienceLand's Earth Exploration exhibit.

The 21,000-square-foot Earth Exploration exhibit that Spacehab is developing will feature static and dynamic models and interactive multimedia displays. Exhibit highlights include an earthquake simulation, a "floating" globe with a star field, gems and minerals displays, and sections on natural resources production, undersea geology, and plate tectonics.

The municipal government of Shanghai is developing Shanghai ScienceLand as a national showcase, a center for popular science education, and a major tourist attraction. The museum is located in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, a high-technology industrial zone on the outskirts of the city.

According to the Association of Science and Technology Centers in Washington, D.C., more than 400 science centers and museums are now open worldwide.

Founded in 1984, with more than $100 million in annual revenue, Spacehab, Inc., is a leading provider of commercial space services. The company is the first to develop, own, and operate habitat modules and cargo carriers providing laboratory facilities and resupply capabilities aboard NASA's Space Shuttles. It also supports astronaut training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and builds space-flight trainers and mockups.