Spectrum Astro Reports Record Earnings for Fiscal Year 2002

Spectrum Astro, a manufacturer of
high performance space and missile defense systems, reported today the highest
earnings in the company’s history. For the fiscal year ended September 30,
2002, Spectrum Astro’s net income was $7.0 million, a 100% increase over FY
2001 and $3.1 million more than the highest previous reported earnings.
Earnings per share (EPS) doubled, rising to $1.47 from $0.74 per share in FY
2001. The company’s backlog as of January 2003 is $152 million.

Revenues dropped slightly from $160.2 million in FY-01 to $154.0 million
in FY-02. The dramatic earnings gains were attributed to several factors,
including increased profitability on certain contracts, very tight cost
management on all programs, and substantial reductions in indirect expenses.

W. David Thompson, Spectrum Astro President and CEO, issued the following
statement:

“Our entire enterprise worked hard to improve profitability this past
year. Our people brought programs in closer to targets, worked more
productively, and had cash under-runs in several indirect expense account
budgets. This is particularly noteworthy since at the opening of the fiscal
year, the company had projected a probable $190 million revenue year. The
decline in this projected top line, resulting from customer program
restructurings and schedule adjustments, required our people to really jump
through hoops to achieve targets, which they not only attained, but also
exceeded. I am very proud of our team’s achievement on this.”

Spectrum Astro has re-invested nearly all of its FY-02 profit into
operations and customer enhancements.

“We used much of our profit to pay down short-term working capital lines
which were being used to finance some of our firm-fixed price satellite
manufacturing contracts,” said Mr. Thompson. “Most inbound programs are cost-
type, which reduces company-borrowing needs. We also invested millions over
the past two years in our new ‘Factory of the Future’ construction site and
facilities.”

Spectrum Astro is currently working on a number of Department of Defense
(DoD) and NASA satellite missions. The company completed the spacecraft bus
for NASA’s Swift mission and is now integrating the payload at Goddard Space
Flight Center in preparation for a November 2003 launch. In August 2002, the
company was awarded a $107 million contract to design, manufacture, and
integrate NASA’s Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope. In addition, Spectrum
Astro is building the DoD Space Test Program’s Communication/ Navigation
Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS). Spectrum Astro’s missile defense work
includes Systems Engineering and spacecraft bus development for the Space
Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) program. On January 6, 2003,
Coriolis, a DoD Space Test Program satellite built by Spectrum Astro, was
successfully launched into orbit.

Spectrum Astro is a privately held, rapidly growing high technology
company, specializing in the design, development, integration, test, and
production of high performance satellites and space-based satellite systems
and subsystems for sophisticated defense, science, and commercial
opportunities. The company is headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona and maintains
additional offices in Los Angeles CA, Pasadena CA, Tucson AZ, Colorado Springs
CO, Herndon VA, and Washington D.C. For more information, visit
www.spectrumastro.com .