Astro began in 1958 as Astro Research Corporation in Santa Barbara, formed by Swiss born scientist, Dr. Hans Schuerch. Initially, Astro developed concepts for inflatable space stations, filament-wound structures, and heliogyro structures.

Extensive research was performed on boron filaments and vacuum deposition of high-strength materials. Supplemental to this research, Astro developed and manufactured high-temperature furnaces for experimental purposes. In 1964, research in the area of high-strength filament structures led to a major contract to develop the Low-Orbiting Frequency Telescope (LOFT) antenna, a filament antenna in space with a one-mile diameter. During its development, Astro conceived and built a central compression column, later called the AstroMastä, which has become one of Astro’s best-known products. The Storable Tubular Extendible Member (STEM™) and BI-STEM™ antennas were designed specifically for spacecraft applications requiring performance in a small lightweight package.

In 1972, Astro Research was acquired by Canada’s Spar Aerospace Limited and moved to Carpinteria, California. Astro shifted focus from research to delivering space flight hardware for such major satellite programs as Voyager I and II, Solar Maximum Mission, Nova, Dynamic Explorer, SEASAT and INSAT.

STEM and AstroMast™ are two examples of specific products with many years of successful flight heritage that are employed on dozens of satellites currently in space. Astro designs specific deployable products using these heritage products as building blocks and, coupled with our 100% successful flight history, to meets diversified needs of deployable space structures.

In 1999, Astro Aerospace became a wholly owned subsidiary of TRW Inc. In 2002, with the merger of TRW and Northrop Grumman, Astro became a business unit of Northrop Grumman Space Technology.