SpaceData Receives FCC License to Operate TDRSS System – World’s Fastest Commercial Data Transfer By Satellite

SpaceData International announced
today formal notification from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) of a
long term FCC Order and Authorization to operate the NASA Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) on a “time-share” basis with NASA and the U.S.
Government.

The first of it’s kind in the commercial world; this FCC License for
SpaceData with the NASA TDRS is the result of a cooperative effort between
NASA, the National Telecommunication Information Agency (NTIA) and the Federal
Communication Commission.

With the NASA TDRSS, SpaceData has designed, developed and now operates
the fastest commercial satellite data transfer capability in the world
transferring data today at 311 Mbps with 466 Mbps under development.

SpaceData’s initial commercial business is a new service, SeismicStar, for
the marine seismic exploration segment of the gas & oil industry with the high
speed satellite broadband-on-command delivery of 3-D seismic data files
directly from ocean going seismic exploration vessels to terrestrial
supercomputers for processing and evaluation. Designed to transmit data at 311
Mbps directly from operational seismic exploration vessels in international
waters worldwide, SpaceData’s SeismicStar provides a complete end-to-end
seismic data transfer service for the gas and oil industry when mapping the
sub-ocean floors to locate and manage drilling sites for new and existing oil
and gas reservoirs.

SpaceData’s first customer for SeismicStar is the world’s largest seismic
service contractor, WesternGeco, a joint venture between Schlumberger
and Baker Hughes. SpaceData’s SeismicStar services for
WesternGeco began with sea-trials last September, under FCC Special Temporary
Authority (STA), operating off the coast of Brazil and transferred over 13
terabytes of uncompressed marine seismic data to WesternGeco’s Houston
facility to date. SpaceData’s SeismicStar reached a one-day satellite
broadband record transferring 422 gigabytes of data directly from the Western
Patriot seismic vessel to NASA’s White Sands Center and then by fiber to
WesternGeco’s Houston site.

SpaceData’s subcontractor for operations and support is General Dynamics
Worldwide Telecommunications System (GD-WTS), a business unit of General
Dynamics , where SeismicStar is assembled, integrated, tested,
installed, and remotely operated onboard seismic vessels. General Dynamics is
also responsible for operating the SeismicStar network’s terrestrial earth
station’s facilities and high-speed fiber connectivity to customer’s
terrestrial supercomputers for seismic data processing.
SpaceData’s Control
Center (Las Cruces, NM), built and operated by GD-WTS, is providing
operational control and maintenance for the entire end-to-end worldwide
SeismicStar system. More information about General Dynamics Worldwide
Telecommunications Systems is available on the Internet at
http://www.gd-wts.com .

About SpaceData International

SpaceData International LLC was established in 1998, based in McLean,
Virginia, specifically for the commercialization of the NASA Space and Ground
Network by developing a business for the provisioning of very high-speed
‘broadband-on-command’ satellite transmission of gigabyte-size data files
utilizing a constellation of NASA TDRS geostationary satellites. Additional
information illustrating SpaceData is available by contacting Jay Gnowles at
jgnowles@spacedata-int.com or on the Internet at
http://www.spacedata-int.com .

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Worldwide Telecommunications Systems engineers,
furnished, installs, maintains and supports a full range of communications
systems and information networks, including asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
and Gigabit Ethernet (Gig-E) networks, large digital switches, satellite
communications systems, campus distribution systems and wireless networks.
Major customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, civilian Federal
agencies and commercial telecommunications service providers.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs
approximately 46,000 people worldwide and anticipates annualized sales in 2001
of approximately $11.5 billion. The company has leading market positions in
shipbuilding and marine systems, land and amphibious combat systems,
information systems and business aviation. More information about the General
Dynamics is available on the Internet at http://www.generaldynamics.com.