Shanghai, CHINA, 29 September 2008 - Barco, a world leader in visualization and display solutions joined in the Shenzhou VII space program in providing large screen projection for the command and control of its first spacewalk.

Shenzhou VII, China's third manned spacecraft, successfully lifted off on Thursday, 25 September at 9:10pm at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province. The pride of China, the Shenzhou spacecraft, with astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng on board, orbited the earth for 68 hours over a three-day period.

Barco SLM R12+ projectors were used to command and control the entire launch program at both the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and Beijing Aerospace Control Center. The monitoring continued through the duration of the spacewalk and concluded with its culmination, when the astronauts' re-entry module landed in central Inner Mongolia.

When employed in conjunction with an event as momentous at the Shenzhou VII spacewalk, product reliability is paramount to success. Still, more than just delivering a superior, advanced technology product in support of the event, Barco also provided on-site technical standby around the clock via a specially assigned technical team.

The SLM R12+ is a powerful large-screen projector that features the unique quality of three-chip DLP colors and a very bright 12,000 lumens light output at a sharp price-to-quality ratio. Its bright light output makes it suitable to operate even in venues with lots of other light sources.

"There's no understating the importance of the Shenzhou VII launch and China's aerospace program," says the Command and Control leader of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. "From top to bottom, it needs to go off without any problems. In this sense, Barco has greatly contributed to the effort with its reliable products and highly professional support."

"To participate in and provide support for the Shenzhou VII spacewalk is a true honor for Barco," says Frank Christiaens, Managing Director of Barco China. "Product reliability is the crucial factor for customers choosing Barco. We're always happy to be able to provide state of the art technical support in any and everyway possible."

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3600 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of euro 747 million in 2007.

For more detailed specifications and connections, check out our Barco SLM R12+ Performer projector page.