A Proud Heritage Continues

To understand the history of Astronautics Corporation of America, you have to start with the brother-and-sister leadership team of Nathaniel Zelazo and Norma Paige, who founded the company in 1959.  Since that time, Astronautics has grown from a small aerospace business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to a global enterprise.  Under the watchful eyes of its founders who had the creativity to envision what the company could become and the business acumen to achieve this vision, Astronautics has pushed the boundaries of technology to create unparalleled and outstanding products.

Prior to their founding Astronautics, Zelazo served as an engineer for the United States Navy, and then as an executive in the aerospace industry; Paige practiced law in New York. In 1959, Zelazo, together with the University of Minnesota’s Rosemount Aeronautical Laboratories (RAL), was awarded a United States Air Force contract to study methods for minimizing the use of fuel to reach Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. The contract marked the start of Astronautics Corporation of America.

Guiding the industry

Nathaniel Zelazo
Norma Paige

Today, Astronautics supplies integrated systems, advanced flat-panel displays, and digital avionics equipment for commercial and military aircraft, including the B-1, B-2, C-17, P-3, F-15, F-16, T-38, Tornado, PC-9, A-109, and B-412, among others.

Astronautics’ electronic flight bag provides commercial airline pilots electronic images of flight manuals, airport maps, terminal maps, approach charts, and other information. It is standard equipment on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and also available and used on Boeing 777, 767, 757, 747, and 737 aircraft.

 

The electronic flight bag also includes an onboard performance tool that helps the pilot reduce fuel consumption, the display of video surveillance of all areas of the aircraft, and collision-avoidance information that shows the location of other aircraft in the air and on the runway.

Astronautics provides highly advanced network server systems and equipment for new Airbus aircraft. Furthermore, the company installs complete avionic system upgrades in many aircraft, including the Brazilian Air Force’s fleet of C-130 transport aircraft.