AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Astrotech (NASDAQ: ASTC) subsidiary 1st Detect today announced that its new explosives trace detector (ETD), the TRACER 1000, has been accepted into the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)’s Air Cargo Screening Technology Qualification Test (ACSQT) program.
“This represents a major step toward inclusion on TSA’s exclusive Air Cargo Screening Technology List (ACSTL) and having the TRACER 1000 used at cargo facilities worldwide,” said Thomas B. Pickens, CEO of 1st Detect and Astrotech.
In 2007, the 9/11 Commission Act mandated that 100 percent of air cargo loaded onto passenger aircraft must be screened for explosives. The challenge of doing so has only increased in recent years, largely due to a worldwide increase in cargo traffic. Earlier this month, two homemade explosives were shipped via FedEx: one detonated inside a sorting center, injuring a worker, while the other forced the shutdown of a FedEx center near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
With a virtually unlimited library of detectable threats and a near-zero false alarm rate, 1st Detect’s next-generation, mass spectrometry-based ETD was designed to enable air carriers, freight forwarders, shippers and independent cargo facilities to stay ahead of evolving threats while optimizing cargo throughput.
“The recent events that took place in our own backyard only underpin the importance of cargo facilities everywhere having the latest technology for rapidly and accurately detecting explosive threats,” said Raj Mellacheruvu, Chief Operating Officer of 1st Detect and Astrotech.
About Astrotech
Astrotech is an innovative science and technology company that invents, acquires, and commercializes technological innovations sourced from research institutions, laboratories, and internally–and then funds, manages and builds scalable start-up companies for profitable divestiture to market leaders to maximize shareholder value. 1st Detect develops and sells chemical analyzers for use in the security, defense, healthcare and environmental markets. Sourced from decades of image research from the laboratories of IBM and Kodak, 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. 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. Demonstrating its entrepreneurial strategy, Astrotech management sold its state-of-the-art satellite servicing operations to Lockheed Martin in August 2014. Astrotech has operations throughout Texas and is headquartered in Austin. For more information, visit www.astrotechcorp.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, trends, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, whether we can successfully develop our proprietary technologies and whether the market will accept our products and services, as well as other risk factors and business considerations described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings including the annual report on Form 10-K. Any forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
