TecStar also brought its 13th reactor on-line. The result has been major throughput increases in the processing areas, with the current gallium arsenide single junction and Cascade multijunction capacity reaching 350 kW per year. In April, the company received ISO 9001 certification by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), meeting all the requirements for documentation, follow-through, and accurate recording of work processes. DNV, one of the world's largest ISO 9001 registrars, was recently selected to certify all NASA facilities.

TecStar Inc. was founded in 1955 as the country's first supplier of space solar cells. Today, the privately held company employs 900 people with sales of $121 million. TecStar supports the space and aircraft industries, both as a leading producer of critical aircraft subsystems and ground support equipment, and by offering the most advanced technology in spacecraft solar panels and arrays. The company maintains an unblemished on-orbit performance on over 400 satellites involving programs like Vanguard, the first satellite powered by solar cells in the late 1950's, through today's on-orbit constellations such as GPS, Iridium, Landsat, Orbcomm, and the Mars- Pathfinder.