Aerostar International, LLC

Aerostar International, LLC, a subsidiary of Tcom, L.P. (doing business as Tcom, L.P.), manufactures specialized protective equipment and operates high-altitude balloon platforms and payload integration services as a prime contractor across 578 recent federal awards totaling $1.29 billion in combined potential value. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based for-profit manufacturer competes full-and-open with no set-aside designations across its prime footprint (95% of awards).

Aerostar's capability portfolio splits between two distinct product lines. On the protective-equipment side, the vendor supplies anti-exposure suits, dry undersuits, outer thermal suits, fuel-handling coveralls, and specialized flight clothing to air and naval commands, with recent purchase orders including $61,662.50 for 25 dry suits to Naval Air Systems Command (September 2025), $73,544.38 for outer thermal suits to Pacific Air Forces at Misawa Air Base, Japan (July 2025), and $233,179.36 for outer thermal suits to Air Combat Command (January 2025). On the aerospace side, Aerostar operates stratospheric balloon platforms and performs payload integration services under NASA's Flight Opportunities Program—a $45 million indefinite-delivery contract (multiple award, through February 2029) that anchors the vendor's highest-value customer relationship. Recent delivery orders under this IDIQ include $8,926,842.20 from Air Combat Command for high-altitude balloons and communication support (March 2026, completing May 2026), $6,365,795.33 from Air Force Research Laboratory for testing combined RF and EO/IR sensors on stratospheric platforms (September 2025, completing December 2026), and $453,892 from NASA Armstrong for payload integration supporting 60 student payloads in the Flight Opportunities TechRise Student Challenge 2026-2027 (March 2026, completing October 2027).

Customer concentration reflects heavy reliance on defense logistics and Air Force operations. The top five funding agencies by award count (covering 36% of awards) are Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Clothing and Textiles (47 awards, $20.7 million combined potential value), Air Combat Command (45 awards, $10.9 million), Department of the Air Force (43 awards, $1.4 million), U.S. Fleet Forces Command (41 awards, $664 thousand), and Air National Guard (34 awards, $753 thousand). By potential value, the ranking diverges sharply—NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center dominates with 15 awards worth $94.3 million combined, followed by Army Acquisition Support Center PEO Soldier (20 awards, $85.6 million), while DLA Troop Support ranks third at $20.7 million despite 47 awards. This split reflects Aerostar's concentration of high-value aerospace work at NASA against high-volume low-value protective-equipment procurements across air and logistics commands.

Aerostar places work across multiple vehicles. The General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule carries 306 task orders (largest vehicle by count) with $14.7 million combined potential value, driven primarily by protective-equipment delivery orders. The vendor also executes against Army IDIQs SPM1C108D1021 (17 task orders, $8.5 million) and SPE1C115D1083 (12 task orders, $1.6 million), the NASA Flight and Payload Integration Services IDIQ (11 task orders, $3.7 million), and Air Force SPE1C120D1212 (10 task orders, $2 million). The SHOFPIS 4 (Suborbital/Hosted Orbital Flight and Payload Integration Services 4) vehicle, managed by NASA Armstrong, surfaces in multiple recent delivery orders and represents the parent master contract for Aerostar's highest-value aerospace work.

Activity has remained relatively stable year-over-year, averaging 13 awards annually over the past five years (2022–2026), with 2024 and 2025 each producing 20 awards. Only 5 awards (combined potential value $7.2 million) complete within the next twenty-four months, indicating limited near-term recompete exposure. Aerostar's subcontract footprint is minimal—27 sub awards (5% of total activity)—concentrated under Peraton Inc. for NASA Balloon Facility operations and management support and under Avon Protection Systems Incorporated for protective-equipment components. Recent sub-award work to Boeing includes Harpoon Coastal Defense System components (October 2025), and work to ManTech Advanced Systems International centers on TITUS search, detection, and navigation system manufacturing (April 2025).

Aerostar operates within a parent structure under Tcom, L.P., a Columbia, Maryland-based partnership that also owns Near Space Corp, a separate for-profit manufacturer. The corporate structure indicates Aerostar's positioning as a specialized platform-and-equipment supplier within a larger industrial-equipment and aerospace-services group rather than as a vertically integrated defense prime. NAICS concentration reflects the manufacturer profile: Military Armored Vehicle, Tank, and Tank Component Manufacturing dominates by count (309 awards), though Aerostar's actual work centers on textile products (Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing, 37 awards) and miscellaneous manufacturing. PSC data confirms this: Clothing, Special Purpose (191 awards) and Specialized Flight Clothing and Accessories (122 awards) together account for more than half of the vendor's award portfolio, with Marine Lifesaving and Diving Equipment (24 awards) capturing naval protective-equipment work.