Medigus Ltd. (TASE:MDGS) has won a contract with NASA to supply its miniature video cameras and video processing equipment. The first order is worth NIS 500,000. NASA has informed Medigus that the Robotic Refueling Mission's budget is tens of millions of dollars over three years.
Medigus won a NASA tender for the Robotic Refueling Mission to test the feasibility of robotic systems for making repairs and refueling the International Space Station. An experimental robotic system was carried to the Space Station in July 2011 by the last mission of the Atlantis space shuttle. The system used robotic tools to carry out repairs and refueling missions.
In 2013, NASA intends to send to the Space Station a Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot to inspect internal systems of satellites using a borescope tipped with a lights and an adjustable miniature video camera in order to carry out precision operations requiring visual control.
Medigus is supplying its CMOS camera with a 1.2 millimeter lens and a second-generation 0.99-millimeter camera, which it says is the smallest in the world. The cameras were originally designed for medical endoscopes, as part of the Office of the Chief Scientist's Protonics Biomedical project. Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) developed and manufactures the camera's sensors.
Medigus will collaborate with NASA and its subcontractors to adapt the cameras for use with the space platforms.
Medigus CEO Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein said, "In this project we again demonstrated professionalism and state-of-the-art products. This win demonstrates the company's progress and the meeting of business targets, i.e. higher sales. Four months ago, we obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing approval for the SRS (an endoscope for the intra-luminal treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)), and last week we obtained EU CE Mark for the SRS II. We are steadily increasing sales in the US and Europe, and the company is readying for the product's rapid progress in the medical community for the good of patients."
Medigus's share price rose 7.2% by midday to NIS 0.76, giving a market cap of NIS 64 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 19, 2012
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