Business Update & Space Station Vehicle Contract

Radstone Technology PLC
21 February 2000

            
                 Radstone Technology PLC
                            
                     Business Update
                           and
       Space Station Crew Return Vehicle Contract


Business Update

Demand  for  Radstone's range of Commercial-off-the-Shelf
(COTS)  rugged  computer products grew  strongly  in  the
second half of the 1999 calendar year.

New  orders  in  Q3 totalled £11.4 millions,  taking  the
Group's  order  intake for the 9 months to 31st  December
1999  to £27.5 millions, a 13% increase compared to  last
year.   At  the  end  of  Q3 the order  book  for  future
delivery stood at a record £31.0 millions, 31% above  the
December 1998 level.

Q3  orders from established customers included a  further
£1.1  millions  from Northrop-Grumman on  the  Firefinder
program,   together  with  £1.0  millions  from   General
Dynamics  Defense  Systems for further Trident  submarine
upgrades.

Assimilation  of  the recent FT Kemitron  acquisition  is
proceeding,  with  a good level of acceptance  among  its
major  customers.   Integration of the  component  supply
arrangements within the enlarged Radstone Group has  been
given high priority, in order to maximise the leverage of
the Group's enhanced purchasing power.  Radstone's direct
access  to the US component market is expected  to  be  a
major   advantage  in  the  face  of  current   component
shortages within the industry.

Sales  for  the  9  months were  £20.0  millions,  a  23%
increase compared to the same period last year.  The book
to  bill ratio is strongly positive at 1.38.  The outcome
for the full year is expected to be within current market
expectations.

Space Station Crew Return Vehicle Contract

Following  a  new  design win at the NASA  Johnson  Space
Center, Radstone will supply its COTS technology into the
X-38  Crew  Return  Vehicle (CRV) for  the  International
Space Station.

In   the   event  of  an  emergency,  the  CRV   provides
crewmembers with the means to evacuate the Space  Station
quickly and return to earth.

NASA's  innovative  CRV  will be the  first  new,  manned
spacecraft,  built to travel to and from  orbit,  for  20
years.  By using COTS equipment and technology for up  to
80  percent of the spacecraft's design, the CRV is  being
developed  at  a  fraction of the cost of previous  space
vehicles.  It is planned to build four operational  CRV's
for  less  than  half the cost of a single Space  Shuttle
orbiter.  Radstone's initial NASA contract award is worth
£0.6 millions.

To  take  full advantage of COTS technology,  NASA  chose
Radstone's  VMEbus COTS products, including  its  market-
leading  PowerPC  processors, for this  mission  critical
environment.


Radstone  hardware  will be used in the  flight  critical
computers  - the backbone of the spacecraft's avionics  -
and in the command and telemetry computers which serve as
the  vehicle's  primary  man/machine  interface,  sending
telemetry data to several destinations, including  ground
control and the orbiter flight deck.

Charles   Paterson,  Radstone  Group  Managing  Director,
commented:


'  We are delighted to be working with NASA Johnson Space
Center on the X-38 CRV.  The programme represents a major
extension    of   Radstone's   involvement    with    the
International  Space Station project and  underlines  the
significance of our COTS technology in the most  critical
application areas'.

'Our  record  order book encourages us that our  products
and  services  now match the needs of our customers  more
closely  than  ever before. The Group continues  to  make
substantial   progress   and   we   look   forward   with
confidence.'
   
For further information please contact:

Radstone Technology PLC                           01327 359444
Dr Charles Paterson, Managing Director, or
Jeff Perrin, Finance Director

Square Mile Communications Ltd                   0171 601 1000
Nick Oborne