Aerostar International, LLC

Aerostar International, LLC, doing business as Aerostar Technical Solutions Inc., is a subsidiary of Tcom, L.P. that supplies high-altitude balloon systems, remote sensing and mapping capabilities, and defense systems engineering to the Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, and Department of the Army as a prime contractor on 93% of its recent awards, competing full and open across multiple large-dollar IDIQs without set-aside designation.

Aerostar operates from Arlington, Virginia as a for-profit corporate entity and holds a portfolio spanning 124 total awards (prime and sub) with combined potential value of $2.22 billion. The vendor's concrete capability portfolio centers on high-altitude platform systems (balloons, gondolas, and associated sensors), remote sensing and environmental data collection, weather intelligence systems, and systems engineering support for multi-domain defense applications. Representative prime work includes a $40.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee definitive contract with Naval Air Warfare Center running through August 2026 for year-one support (awarded August 2024); a $49.4 million OTA IDV from the Engineer Research and Development Center awarded March 2026 for remote sensing and mapping capabilities; a $900 million multiple-award IDIQ from Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC/XA) awarded June 2023 for innovative multi-domain systems development and rapid prototyping, from which a $1 million delivery order was issued September 2023; and a recently awarded $151 billion multiple-award IDIQ from the Missile Defense Agency for the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) system (awarded December 2025). Aerostar also manufactures specialty products such as GML plastic balloons for ozone measurement (NOAA purchase order, $91.9 thousand, August 2026) and interface rack assemblies for Naval Air Warfare Center ($118 thousand, March 2026).

Customer concentration is sharply bifurcated by dollars versus transaction volume. By award count (65% coverage), the top customers are the Department of the Navy across multiple commands (34 awards, $9.7 million combined potential value), the Department of the Air Force (17 awards, $900 million), and Naval Air Systems Command's Naval Air Warfare Center (16 awards, $168.3 million). By potential value (96% coverage), two customers dominate: the Department of the Navy Naval Sea Systems Command with 3 awards worth $982.2 million combined (driven by the SHIELD IDIQ award), and the Department of the Air Force with 17 awards at $900 million. This divergence reflects Aerostar's large IDIQ vehicles sitting with Navy and Air Force while smaller task orders flow to Naval Air Warfare Center and other Navy commands. The vendor serves 22 distinct federal agencies, with heavy concentration in defense and scientific research.

Aerostar's top parent vehicles are Navy IDICs N4740802D8305 (10 task orders, $9.7 million) and N6833518D0046 (6 task orders, $23.6 million), the Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract (5 task orders), and IDC IND08PC60104 (4 task orders, $7.5 million). The recent SHIELD and AFLCMC/XA IDIQs represent major vehicle additions with multi-year ordering potential.

Activity has been cyclical in the past five years — one award in 2022, peaking at six in 2024, and settling to five in 2025 and three year-to-date in 2026 — though this reflects the lumpiness of large IDIQ vehicle awards rather than task-order volume. Obligated dollars total $144.9 million (7% of potential value), indicating early-stage funding across most awards. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is minimal ($93 thousand across two awards), a function of long-duration IDIQ and definitive contracts extending well beyond 2026.

In its subcontractor role, Aerostar delivers high-altitude balloon systems, sensor integration, and flight operations support to HII Mission Technologies Corp on Air Force integrated surveillance projects (Winds Aloft, Arcane Thunder 2024, Project Convergence Capstone 24) and to Peraton Inc. on NASA Balloon Facility operations (zero-pressure and super-pressure balloon deliveries). Aerostar also performed supplies and support work for KBR Wyle Services on Program Executive Office Aviation helicopter enhancements (January 2025).

Aerostar's NAICS profile is dominated by aeronautical systems manufacturing (Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing: 17 awards) and physical/engineering R&D (10 awards), with PSC concentration in defense R&D (missile/space systems management, electronics/communication R&D, and other applied research), reflecting its core role as a platform and sensor provider for advanced defense systems.