$Astrotech(ASTC)$ AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC) announced today that its 1st Detect subsidiary has secured an important landmark purchase order for its TRACER 1000™, representing the first units to be deployed at an airport security checkpoint. Including prior sales to worldwide cargo facilities, the TRACER 1000 explosives trace detector (ETD) will now be operating in fifteen locations in ten countries throughout Europe and Asia.
The Astrotech Mass Spectrometer Technology™ (AMS Technology) drives the breakthrough TRACER 1000, the first certified ETD to employ mass spectrometry. Long recognized as the gold standard in chemical detection, mass spectrometry has historically been too costly, bulky, and cumbersome to be used outside of the laboratory. Unlike other technologies, the AMS Technology works under ultra-high vacuum, which eliminates competing molecules that can impair the accuracy and quality of an analysis. The TRACER 1000 is inexpensive, small, and easy to use, with high resolution and near-zero false alarms. Due to its high sensitivity and rugged design, the TRACER 1000 is the only mass spectrometry-based ETD to have received European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) certification for both checkpoint and cargo security.
“As air travel spending begins to return to normal following the slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing renewed interest in checkpoint use for the TRACER 1000 ETD,” said Thomas B. Pickens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 1st Detect. “We are excited that airport operators are beginning to understand that mass spectrometry is a superior technology for the detection of explosives, providing benefits to both airports and travelers. Based on our near-zero false alarms, we believe that operating costs will be considerably lower and passenger throughput will be much faster when compared to competing screening devices. This could lead to more consumer spending in airports as passengers avoid unnecessary delays at the screening checkpoint,” concluded Pickens.