April 2, 2024

Sioux Falls-based Aerostar International LLC, which is part of TCOM Holdings, has acquired an Oregon-based company with expertise in high-altitude flight testing and complex aerospace soft goods designs.

Near Space Corp. was founded in 1996 and also manages the Tillamook Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Range, one of seven FAA-designated UAS testing locations in the United States.

The Tillamook, Oregon, facility and team “bring tremendous synergy to Aerostar’s customers and operations,” the company said in a statement. “A new launch location on the West Coast is geographically strategic for Pacific high-altitude balloon operations and is located near key customer facilities.”

The test range provides an advantageous location for Aerostar’s integration partners in the radar and stratospheric platform markets to test combined concepts of operations, and Near Space’s space materials expertise will open new markets for Aerostar, the company said.

“I’m excited to bring Near Space’s technology, location and team members into the Aerostar team. They are well aligned to our culture and will drive forward our mission to connect, protect and save lives,” said Jim Nelson, president of Aerostar. “Our combined experience in the stratosphere will further strengthen Aerostar’s position as a world leader in high-altitude, lighter-than-air solutions.”

Aerostar was part of the former Sioux Falls-based Raven Industries and was sold to Maryland-based TCOM Holdings in 2022.

With Near Space, “the enabling capabilities we have brought together will greatly enhance our ability to offer responsive and reliable solutions for persistent elevated awareness and deep sensing,” TCOM CEO Ron Bendlin said. “As we continue to grow, we look forward to the future and how we can continue to adapt and help meet the needs of the modern warfighter.”

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