IBM's top range ThinkPad 755C has been chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for standard use on its Space Shuttle missions.
It takes over from the three successful Shuttle trips made using the previous IBM model, the 750C.
Astronauts have used the ThinkPad to transmit and display big multimedia files, provide a moving Earth map and test for radiation in space among other applications.
The contract, which involves the delivery of 60 of the 755C notebook models to NASA, is worth about US$400,000 to IBM in nominal terms, but clearly more in prestige terms.
Extensive tests are underway to clear the machines for use, which is expected to start late this year or early next year.
The latest model ThinkPad uses the Intel DX4 75 Mhz central processing unit, making it ''the fastest mobile computer ever used in space'', according to the company.
Jackson Ngan, managing director of Personal Computer Company for China and Hong Kong, said: ''ThinkPad has become the standard against which all mobile computers are judged.'' The ThinkPad in all its versions has won many industry awards in the US.