1st Detect Corporation, a subsidiary of Astrotech ASTC, this week announced that its breakthrough portable mass spectrometer technology has reached another milestone in the military’s three-phase, multi-year Next Generation Chemical Detector (NGCD) development program.
Together with Battelle, 1st Detect has officially entered the phase II test and evaluation process for its prototype Multi-Sample Identifier Detector (MSID) solution.
The Department of Defense NGCD program is designed to develop and procure advanced detectors for Chemical Warfare Agents, Toxic Industrial Chemicals, and Non-Traditional Agents. The detectors are intended for use by the military for a wide range of missions.
“Reaching this second phase of the NGCD project is a vote of confidence in the viability of 1st Detect’s mass spectrometer detection solution. It provides us with an inimitable opportunity to refine the solution in a way that will meet the challenging needs of our military and effectively save lives,” explained Thomas B. Pickens III, CEO of Astrotech. “We are working in close collaboration with our key partner Battelle to validate and refine our joint detection solution, and we’ll continue to leverage their elaborate biological and chemical defense expertise to advance the solution to the final phase with the government,” he added.
The mass spectrometer instrument developed by 1st Detect Corporation has revolutionized the chemical detection and analysis market by delivering lab performance mass spectrometry in a miniaturized, affordable and easily portable package.
The 1st Detect mass spectrometer is capable of detecting a wide variety of chemicals including residues and vapors from explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic chemicals, food and beverage contaminants, and pollutants. These abilities make it an ideal tool for a variety of applications in the research, security, industrial, process flow and healthcare markets.
“We are pleased to see that the tremendous research and development efforts of our technical Program Team have proved successful, ultimately translating into technical detection solutions advanced enough to satisfy the extensive requirements and milestones set forth by our government,” stated Bob Kibler, CEO of 1st Detect.
1st Detect Corporation was initially formed to develop and commercialize miniature mass spectrometer technology first developed under an agreement with NASA for use on the International Space Station. This miniaturized mass spectrometer fills an unmet need by being highly accurate, rapid, lightweight, and cost-effective.
