US space hardware developer Astrotech has announced it has acquired assets from local digital imagery specialist Image Trends out of bankruptcy.
Astrotech said the group’s digital scanning technology will bolster its space imagery business, which it…
US space hardware developer Astrotech has announced it has acquired assets from local digital imagery specialist Image Trends out of bankruptcy.
Astrotech said the group’s digital scanning technology will bolster its space imagery business, which it has been focusing on after selling its pre-launch satellite services unit to Lockheed Martin last year.
“With the acquisition of these technologies, intellectual property, and know-how, coupled with selected high performance space imaging technologies, we have created Astral Images, Inc., revolutionising the film to digital conversion process for the new Ultra-High Definition 4K standards,” said Astrotech CEO Thomas Pickens in a brief statement.
Image Trends entered bankruptcy proceedings in Texas shortly after Daniel Sullivan, its former CEO, pleaded guilty in April 2014 to child pornography distribution charges.
Court reports detail how Astrotech had provided financing to Image Trends, which also obtained a US$1m loan in 2008 from the state’s Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
Chase Hazell, an executive director for the fund, had become CEO of Image Trends by October 2014 following Sullivan’s departure. She was quoted telling the bankruptcy court in January 2015 that, during the previous summer, the company had been highlighted as needing intense “portfolio management” by the state.
Astrotech agreed to sell its satellite launch preparation unit, Astrotech Space Operations, in May 2014 to Lockheed for US$61m.
It reorganised a month later to take full ownership of its subsidiary companies – mass spectrometer specialist 1st Detect and microgravity biotechnology firm Astrogenetix – in which it had previously issued equity grants to employees. It had owned 86.4% and 83.6% of 1st Detect and Astrogenetix, respectively, before the move. The employees were compensated with shares in the parent group.
In December 2014, Astrotech hired Bob Kibler, chairman of the Gulf Coast Conference chemical analysis event with more than 35 years of experience in the instrumentation industry, to lead 1st Detect as CEO.
The company posted a US$2.4m net loss for Q2 2015, compared with a US$2.6m net loss for the corresponding period in 2014. It recorded about US$4,000 in revenue for the three months to the end of December 2014, compared with US$82,000 for the period the year before.
Announcing the results on 17 February 2015, Pickens said: “This was an important transition quarter for Astrotech Corporation as we prepared for 1st Detect’s evolution from a research and development organisation to one that will be focused on commercialisation of its technology.
“With ample resources provided by the sale of Astrotech Space Operations (ASO), we have attracted the premier talent necessary to take 1st Detect to the next level. In addition, we are actively seeking acquisitions to complement our 1st Detect technology or technology companies that are positioned to be dominant in their respective industries.”
