Astrotech Corporation, formerly Spacehab Inc., is a technology incubator headquartered in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. Astrotech uses technology sourced internally and from research institutions, government laboratories, and universities to fund, manage and sell start-up companies.
Astrotech Corporation's subsidiaries provide commercial products and services to
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, the
U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
, national space agencies, and global commercial customers.
History
Astrotech Corporation
Astrotech Corporation was established in 1984. Prior to 2009, it was known as SPACEHAB, Inc., a company that provided space habitat microgravity experimentation equipment and services to NASA during the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
era. As the Shuttle program came to an end, the company put more focus on its spacecraft processing business, Astrotech Space Operations, Inc. (ASO), its mass spectrometer instrumentation business, 1st Detect, Inc. and its microgravity vaccine development company, Astrogenetix, Inc. In August 2014, the company sold Astrotech Space Operations. In February 2015, the company acquired defect correction software and Astral Images Corp. was created to commercialize government funded satellite imagery processing technology and research into automated image correction and enhancement.
Spacehab
![Spacehab in shuttle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Spacehab_in_shuttle.svg)
Spacehab was founded in 1984 by
Bob Citron with the help and support of CSP Associates from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The team from CSP Associates included founder David W. Lippy along with his partners Brad Meslin and Marc Oderman. It was one of CSP's consultants, Dr. David Williamson who conceived of the idea to increase the cargo space on the Shuttles as the primary focus of the Spacehab mission. Early venture capital was supplied by Al Zesiger of BEA Associates in New York City as well as Dr. Shelley Harrison also from New York. CSP Associates and its venture contacts were responsible for raising most of the early seed monies to get the company off the ground and funded. Throughout its more than 20-year history, Spacehab has contracted over
$1 billion dollars in total sales.
Spacehab hardware for Space Shuttle missions
Spacehab hardware consists of:
*
Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), unpressurized
*
External Stowage Platform
External stowage platforms (ESPs) are key components of the International Space Station (ISS). Each platform is made from steel and serves as an external pallet that can hold spare parts, also known as orbital replacement units (ORUs), for the spa ...
(ESP-2 and ESP-3), an ICC variant
* Logistics Single Module (LSM) and Logistics Double Module (LDM)
* Single Module (SM) and
Research Double Module
The Research Double Module was a payload module built by Spacehab Inc (now Astrotech Corporation) for the US Space Shuttle Orbiters.
The Research Double Module flew only on the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 mission, in which it was dest ...
(RDM), pressurized
The Spacehab hardware was specifically designed to be nestled inside the cargo bay of the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
s and flew on a total of 22 Space Shuttle missions, including seven to the Russian space station
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
and eight to the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
(ISS). The Single Module flew on seven missions, and the Research Double Module flew only on the ill-fated Columbia
STS-107
STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th and final flight of Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003, and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes ...
mission, in which it was destroyed.
![Spacehab S107e05359](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Spacehab_S107e05359.jpg)
The inaugural flight of Spacehab's research double module, which launched January 2003 on
STS-107
STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th and final flight of Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003, and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes ...
, ended when the
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' broke up during re-entry. In January 2004, Spacehab filed a formal claim against NASA for the amount of $87.7 million for the loss caused by
the ''Columbia'' disaster. In February 2003 Spacehab received $17.7 million from the proceeds of its commercial insurance policy, and in October 2004 NASA paid the company $8.2 million. In February 2007, Spacehab dropped all litigation against NASA.
Spacehab's ICC hardware has been further developed into the
External Stowage Platform
External stowage platforms (ESPs) are key components of the International Space Station (ISS). Each platform is made from steel and serves as an external pallet that can hold spare parts, also known as orbital replacement units (ORUs), for the spa ...
(ESP-2 and ESP-1), which are permanently deployed on the ISS. The ESP-2 is currently attached to the International Space Station's airlock, providing the only permanent, commercial "spare parts" facility for the ISS crew. ESP-3 was deployed during Space Shuttle mission
STS-118
STS-118 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by the orbiter '' Endeavour''. STS-118 lifted off on 8 August 2007 from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida and landed at the Shuttle Landing Fac ...
, on August 8, 2007.
Flights
Legend:
*ESP -
External Stowage Platform
External stowage platforms (ESPs) are key components of the International Space Station (ISS). Each platform is made from steel and serves as an external pallet that can hold spare parts, also known as orbital replacement units (ORUs), for the spa ...
*ICC -
Integrated Cargo Carrier
*LDM - Logistics Double Module
*LSM - Logistics Single Module
*SM - Single Module
*RDM -
Research Double Module
The Research Double Module was a payload module built by Spacehab Inc (now Astrotech Corporation) for the US Space Shuttle Orbiters.
The Research Double Module flew only on the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 mission, in which it was dest ...
Astrotech Space Operations (ASO)
The Company changed its name to Astrotech Corporation in 2009 to align the corporate name with the company's core business offering, Astrotech Space Operation. ASO provides all support necessary for government and commercial customers to successfully process their satellite hardware for launch–including planning; construction and use of unique equipment and facilities; and spacecraft checkout, encapsulation, fueling, and transport.
Astrotech Corporation management sold ASO, its state-of-the-art satellite servicing operations, to
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
in August 2014.
Products and services
Chemical detection and analysis
1st Detect, an Astrotech subsidiary, develops, manufactures, and sells powerful, highly sensitive, and accurate mass spectrometers that can be used in explosive and chemical warfare detection for the Department of Homeland Security and the military. 1st Detect's miniature mass spectrometer technology was sourced from Oak Ridge Laboratory's chemical analyzer research.
The company Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC) announced that its Astrotech Technologies, Inc. subsidiary has entered into an agreement wit
Sanmina Corporationto manufacture its mass spectrometry products. As part of the relationship, Sanmina will manufacture 1st Detect’s TRACER 1000. They have also agreed to manufacture AgLAB’s AgLAB-1000 and BreathTech’s BreathTest-1000 once those products are officially released.
Film restoration, correction, and enhancement
Astral Images sells film to digital image enhancement, defect removal and color correction software, and post processing services, providing economically feasible conversion of television and feature 35mm and 16mm films to the new 4K ultra-high definition (UHD), high-dynamic range (HDR) format necessary for the new generation of digital distribution. Astral Images' core technology is sourced from decades of image research from the laboratories of IBM and Kodak combined with classified satellite technology from government laboratories.
Vaccine development
Sourced from NASA's extensive microgravity research, Astrogenetix is applying a fast-track on-orbit discovery platform using the International Space Station to develop vaccines and other therapeutics.
Space operations
![MESSENGER Assembly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/MESSENGER_Assembly.jpg)
Prior to the 2014 Lockheed Martin acquisition, Astrotech provided both the government and commercial space markets with satellite processing services through its Astrotech Space Operations (ASO) subsidiary located in
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in eastern Florida and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 43,761 as of the 2010 United States Census.
Titusville is located along the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and ...
, three miles (5 km) from the
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
. It has more than of clean room processing space, and services payloads, or satellites, for
United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, a ...
’s
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
and
Delta rocket
Delta is an American versatile family of expendable launch systems that has provided space launch capability in the United States since 1960. Japan also launched license-built derivatives ( N-I, N-II, and H-I) from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 ...
families,
Orbital Sciences
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...
’
Taurus
Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to:
* Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign
* Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac
* Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus
* '' Bos tauru ...
and
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
, and
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
's
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...
launch vehicles. Astrotech owned and operated processing facilities located on
Vandenberg Space Force Base
Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from th ...
at the Western Range in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Also in California, ASO provides payload processing and facilities management support for the ocean-going
Sea Launch
Sea Launch was a multinational—Norway, Russia, Ukraine, United States—spacecraft launch company founded in 1995 that provided orbital launch services from 1999–2014. The company used a mobile maritime launch platform for equatorial lau ...
program at the Home Port Facilities in Long Beach.
ARCTUS
On December 10, 2007, Spacehab released details about its upcoming
designed to deliver cargo to, and return cargo from, the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
.
The project was later shelved.
References
External links
Official Astrotech Corporation web siteARCTUS Spacecraft home page
{{STS-107
Companies based in Austin, Texas
Aerospace companies of the United States
Technology companies of the United States
American companies established in 1984
1984 establishments in Texas
Technology companies established in 1984