To: xcentral1 who wrote (5578 ) 2/12/2007 6:08:27 PM From: xcentral1 Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 6687 Updated:2007-02-12 16:45:22 US Patent Issued to VIASPACE Subsidiary Ionfinity PR NEWSWIRE PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC), a company dedicated to commercializing proven technologies from NASA and the US Department of Defense, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US patent number 7174703 to VIASPACE subsidiary Ionfinity. The patent entitled "Ion Thruster System" covers the use of Ionfinity's proprietary soft-ionization membrane in an ion thruster engine to power spacecraft and for spacecraft control. It was previously announced that Ionfinity was awarded a Phase II STTR contract extension and additional funding by the U.S. Air Force on September 30, 2006 to develop, jointly with Aerospace Corp. and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a soft ionization membrane to be used as a micro ion engine for micro and nano satellite station keeping. The soft ionization membrane is a proprietary and patented technique to produce ion beams. The technology is also being applied to the mass spectrometry market where it is expected to provide a large increase in sensitivity with a large reduction in size and cost. In addition, the soft ionization membrane is expected to enable a new generation of sensors for detecting chemical and biological warfare agents, narcotics and explosives. Ionfinity is pursuing these applications under separate contracts from the US Army and Navy. About VIASPACE: Originally founded in 1998 with the objective of transforming proven space and defense technologies from NASA and the Department of Defense into hardware and software solutions that solve today's complex problems, VIASPACE benefits from important patent and software licenses from Caltech, which manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, please visit our website at www.VIASPACE.com , or contact for Investor Relations, Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications at 800-517-8050, or IR@VIASPACE.com .