Elizabeth Leigh
Battelle has contracted Astrotech subsidiary 1st Detect Corp. to develop portable mass spectrometers for the U.S. military next-generation chemical detector program.
The collaboration will rely on Batelle’s experience in biological and chemical defense tools and 1st Detect’s miniaturization technology to come up with a prototype multisample identifier, Astrotech said Thursday.
Thomas B. Pickens III, chairman and CEO of Astrotech, said he expects the joint project to help fast-track product development and testing under the NGCD campaign.
“We believe this collaboration, in alignment with government direction, will contribute to an accelerated development timeline for NGCD because the efficacy of product design iterations can be immediately vetted with actual chemical warfare agents,†he said.
According to Astrotech, 1st Detect’s mass spectrometer, which it initially developed in cooperation with NASA, works to detect different types of chemicals from bombs, food contaminants and pollutants in security, industrial, research, healthcare and other industries.
