AeroAstro Awarded SBIR Contract for Development of Vaccro™,
a Revolutionary Joining Technology for Reconfigurable Spacecraft

Ashburn, VA – March 31, 2004

AeroAstro, Inc., a leading provider of small satellites and related technology products, today announced the award of a contract for development of joining techniques for reconfigurable spacecraft based on Vaccro™ technology. Vaccro is a revolutionary new joining technology, using metal in a method similar to Velcro®. Through funding from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, AeroAstro will work with VACCO Industries (South El Monte, California) to evaluate Vaccro as a lighter, simpler, and more flexible mechanical joining technology.

Progress in the miniaturization and modularization of spacecraft electronics and components has, until now, not addressed assembly and joining technologies. Conventional construction techniques are not suited for use in modular, rapidly configurable spacecraft.

Vaccro does not have the limitations of traditional methods. Vaccro enables a rapid connection with good mechanical, thermal and electrical bonding, but with the capability to be just as rapidly separated and rejoined with the same or new components. By working closely with VACCO, AeroAstro aims to transform a basic joining technology into a key enabling construction technology for the terrestrial and on-orbit integration of large space structures and spacecraft from modular sub-structures.

Dr. Rick Fleeter, AeroAstro’s CEO, said, “The ability to easily assemble or reconfigure space structures on orbit as well as on the ground has the potential to dramatically expand the range of missions we can accomplish, and speed the preparation of modular spacecraft. By leveraging VACCO’s proven Vaccro technology, AeroAstro will quickly turn the concept of reconfigurable spacecraft into reality.”

The Phase I SBIR effort is sponsored by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Through this effort, AeroAstro, working with VACCO, will evolve the Vaccro technology from its current bench-top status to a mature state, ready for application to modular, reconfigurable and intelligent spacecraft applications. The AeroAstro/VACCO team will focus its work on the materials, geometry, and processes to make place-and-press metal bonding practical for spacecraft, thus enabling the use of Vaccro in next-generation space systems.

AeroAstro, Inc. is a leader in innovative micro and nanospacecraft applications – including science, remote sensing, and communications – that open the space frontier to a larger and more varied customer base. AeroAstro manufactures low-cost satellite systems and components, used in its own spacecraft and for spacecraft development in the US and abroad. NASA, the US Air Force, commercial and academic customers have all relied on AeroAstro spacecraft and components over our 15-year history.

Velcro® is a registered trademark of Velcro Industries B.V.
Vaccro™ is a trademark of VACCO Industries Inc.