SpaceDev
, the world’s first publicly traded commercial space
exploration and development company, announced today it has completed
construction of its new Satellite Assembly and Test (SAT) facility.

California’s Western Commercial Space Center (WCSC) last year
awarded SpaceDev a $200,000 State Grant, with matching contributions
by SpaceDev, to help build-out and equip the first new full-up
satellite and space vehicle manufacturing facility in the San Diego
area in over 30 years.

“We’re very happy to dedicate and open this important facility
that enables full end-to-end flight system development capability at
SpaceDev,” said Stan Dubyn, SpaceDev’s president & chief operating
officer. “We’re indebted to the State of California for their
confidence in us, and I know our customers and shareholders will be as
pleased as we are with this new manufacturing capacity.”

The completed SAT facility includes 1,800-square-ft. of Class
100,000 clean room space, and will include laminar flow benches for
supporting special Class-100 activities, and enough workspace to
support the simultaneous assembly and test of up to eight
CHIPSat-class or deep space micro-mission spacecraft, or up to sixteen
of SpaceDev’s orbital Maneuvering and Transfer Vehicles. The facility
adjoins the electrical assembly and test laboratory where SpaceDev’s
miniature MST-21 S-Band transponder, Power Conditioning and
Distribution board product, and the HPX-21 single-board MPC 750 flight
computer products are being developed.

The new multi-function facility is adjacent to the Mission
Operations Center at SpaceDev’s Poway headquarters, and will support
the assembly, manufacturing, integration, test, and checkout of
avionics, power, telecom, structure and propulsion components &
subsystems; earth-orbiting satellites; and deep space flight systems;
and other related activities for ongoing and future commercial and
government space programs.

With the dedication ceremony and final-walkthrough certification
held at SpaceDev on Feb. 9, the Space Assembly and Test facility is
now on-line for flight system integration, test, and checkout.
California Governor Gray Davis in a letter to SpaceDev said, “This
event is a unique opportunity to celebrate the valuable contribution
SpaceDev has made to space exploration and the development of new
space technology. I applaud the staff and supporters of SpaceDev for
their visionary ideas and commitment to professional excellence.”

SpaceDev is already using the High-bay Area of the facility for
assembly and integration of hybrid rocket motors for its orbital
Maneuvering & Transfer Vehicle (MTV) product line, and will start
using the separately enclosed SAT facility and clean room to integrate
and test the CHIPSat earth-orbiting science satellite being built by
SpaceDev for the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley.

CHIPSat, the first of NASA’s University Explorers, is one of the
smallest and least expensive missions ever approved and funded by
NASA. SpaceDev competitively won the contract for the CHIPSat mission
during its second year in business. CHIPSat is planned to launch next
year on a Boeing Delta-II launch vehicle.

For more information, contact Stan Dubyn: 858-375-2011.