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Description of the Company and Operating Environment | 12 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2014
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Description of the Company and Operating Environment | (1) Description of the Company and Operating Environment Astrotech Corporation (Nasdaq: ASTC) (“Astrotech,” “the Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”), a State of Washington corporation, is a commercial aerospace company that was formed in 1984 to leverage the environment of space for commercial purposes. For nearly 30 years, the Company has remained a crucial player in space commerce activities. We have successfully supported the launch of 23 shuttle missions and more than 300 spacecraft. We have designed, operated and built space hardware and processing facilities. We currently own, operate and maintain world-class spacecraft processing facilities; prepare and process scientific research in microgravity and develop and manufacture sophisticated and cutting edge chemical sensor equipment. Our Business Units Astrotech Space Operations (“ASO”) On August 22, 2014, the Company completed the sale of substantially all of its assets used to conduct the Company’s Astrotech Space Operations business unit (“the ASO business”) for $61.0 million, less a working capital and indemnity holdback of $1.8 million and $6.1 million, respectively. The working capital holdback will be settled up once both sides agree on the final net working capital amount as of the date of the transaction. The indemnity holdback is being held in escrow under the terms of an escrow agreement until February 2016 (the 18-month anniversary of the consummation of the transaction). ASO provides support to its government and commercial customers as they successfully process complex communication, earth observation and deep space satellites in preparation for their launch on a variety of launch vehicles. Processing activities include satellite ground transportation; pre-launch hardware integration and testing; satellite encapsulation, fueling and launch pad delivery; and communication linked launch control. Our ASO facilities can accommodate up to five-meter class satellites, which includes almost all U.S.-based satellites. ASO’s service capabilities include designing and building spacecraft processing equipment and facilities. In addition, ASO provides propellant services including designing, building and testing propellant service equipment for fueling spacecraft. ASO accounted for 99% of our consolidated revenues for the period ended June 30, 2014. Revenue for our ASO business unit is generated primarily from various fixed-priced contracts with launch service providers in both government and commercial markets and from the design, fabrication and use of critical space launch equipment. The services and facilities we provide to our customers support the final assembly, checkout and countdown functions required to launch a spacecraft. The revenue and cash flows generated by ASO are primarily driven by the number of spacecraft launches. Spacetech Our other business unit is a technology incubator designed to commercialize space-industry technologies. This business unit is currently pursuing two distinct opportunities: 1st Detect 1st Detect develops, manufactures and sells ultra-small mass spectrometers and related equipment. Mass spectrometers, in general, measure the mass and relative abundance of ions in a sample to create a “mass spectrum”. This resulting mass spectrum is a unique chemical fingerprint that can be compared to a reference library of mass spectra to verify the identity of a sample. Mass spectrometers can identify chemicals with more accuracy and precision than competing instruments given their extreme sensitivity and specificity and they are a staple of almost all analytical laboratories. By leveraging technology initiated by an engagement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) to develop a mass spectrometer for the International Space Station (“ISS”), the Company has developed a series of instruments that are significantly smaller, lighter, faster and less expensive than competing mass spectrometers, and significantly more sensitive and accurate than other competing chemical detectors at a similar price point. Our efforts have resulted in a technology that can provide mass spectrometry analytics in real-time for explosive device detection in airports and the battlefield, industrial quality and process control, environmental field applications and laboratory research. The MMS-1000TM is a small, low power mass spectrometer designed initially for the laboratory market. The unique design of this unit enables mass spectrometric quality chemical analysis in a small package (about the size of a shoebox) that operates from less power than a typical light bulb. This allows high quality chemical analysis to be performed in locations where mass spectrometers have not been used before, such as directly on the factory floor or in the battlefield, without compromising the quality of the analysis. The OEM-1000 is a mass spectrometer component that is designed to be integrated into customers’ complementary technology. The OEM-1000 has recently been integrated into a Thermogravimetric Analyzer (“TGA”) manufactured by RIGAKU of Tokyo, Japan, one of the leading instrumentation companies in Asia. The integrated instrument named Thermo iMS2 is the world's first integrated TGA with MS/MS capabilities. Astrogenetix Astrogenetix is a biotechnology company formed to commercialize products processed in the unique environment of microgravity. Astrogenetix pursued an aggressive space access strategy to take advantage of the Space Shuttle program prior to its retirement in 2011. This strategy gave Astrogenetix unprecedented access to research in microgravity, as we flew experiments twelve times over a three year period. In collaboration with NASA, NASA has engaged leading vaccine development experts through a premier educational institution to independently evaluate Astrogenetix’s platform with specific direction to aid in the filing of an IND application for Salmonella. Given that NASA is providing much of the necessary funding for this research, additional investment in Astrogenetix has been scaled back considerably as efforts are concentrated on filing this IND. The team is also evaluating a vaccine target for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (“MRSA”) based on discoveries made in microgravity. We have negotiated a Space Act Agreement with NASA for a minimum of twenty eight additional space flights following the successful filing of the IND application. Liquidity At June 30, 2014, we had cash and cash equivalents of $3.8 million and our working capital was approximately ($4.4) million. Our future capital requirements will depend on a number of factors, including our success in developing and expanding markets for our products, payments under possible future strategic arrangements, continued progress of our research and development of potential products, the need to acquire licenses to new technology, costs associated with increasing our manufacturing and development facilities, costs associated with strategic acquisitions including integration costs and assumed liabilities, litigation expense, the status of competitive products and potential cost associated with both protecting and defending our intellectual property. Additionally, actions taken as a result of the ongoing internal evaluation of our business could result in expenditures not currently contemplated in our estimates. We believe, however, that our existing cash and cash equivalents are sufficient to fund our operating expenses, capital equipment requirements and other expected liquidity requirements for the coming year. Factors that could affect our capital requirements, in addition to those listed above include continued collections of accounts receivable consistent with our historical experience, uncertainty surrounding mission launch schedules, and our ability to manage product development efforts. On August 22, 2014, the Company completed the sale of substantially all of its assets used to conduct the Company's Astrotech Space Operations business unit for $61.0 million, less a working capital and indemnity holdback of $1.8 million and $6.1 million, respectively. The working capital holdback will be settled up once both sides agree on the final net working capital amount as of the date of the transaction. The indemnity holdback is being held in escrow under the terms of an escrow agreement until February 2016 (the 18-month anniversary of the consummation of the transaction). A portion of the proceeds from the sale were used to pay off the term note of $5.7 million (see Note 19 to our Consolidated Financial Statements). The remaining funds will fund current operations and support strategies for our Spacetech business unit. We believe we have sufficient liquidity to continue to fund our operating expenses, capital equipment requirements and other expected liquidity requirements over the next fiscal year.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References No definition available. + Details
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