Micro-cap company Astrotech rose 460% in just one day. It's targeting the moon

Quotes of Astrotech Corporation, once the first in history to offer investors to invest in space exploration, and now - developing systems for the detection of drugs and harmful substances in the workplace, soared on Ma 27 by almost 460%. The company announced: it is going to build infrastructure on the Moon, which will allow the future production of semiconductors and quantum computers there.

Astrotech shares rose 459% to $13.8 on the Nasdaq on May 27. This is a three-year maximum. During the trades quotations rose by almost 600%, this is the largest intraday jump in the public history of the company, notes the portal Stocktwits. The stock is also up more than 60% in premarket trading on May 28.

The rally began after Astrotech announced a new strategic focus on building autonomous industrial infrastructure on the Moon.

There's plenty of solar energy, extreme temperatures, reduced gravity and important lunar materials, including atoms of ultra-pure silicon-28, which could be used in the manufacture of semiconductors and quantum computers, and helium-3 atoms, potentially useful in quantum cooling, the company explains.

All of this could make the moon attractive for advanced computing infrastructure and next-generation quantum systems, the press release said.

"Quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies are rapidly becoming strategic priorities in national security and economics. We believe the Moon can offer unique long-term value," the company quoted its CEO Tom Pickens as saying.

The initiative could also benefit NASA's Artemis lunar exploration and lunar payload delivery programs ("CLPS"), as well as the development of next-generation commercial lunar transportation systems, the report said.

Astrotech now does business through four subsidiaries - each with its own specialization. 1st Detect develops and manufactures drug detection systems, AgLAB develops analyzers for agricultural processing, Pro-Control provides solutions for monitoring chemical processes in production, and EN-SCAN offers portable gas chromatograph-mass spectrometers for on-site analysis of air, water and soil.

However, Astrotech was originally just about space. It was founded by Bob Citron and engineer Thomas McCann in 1984 under the name Spacehab. Initially, Citron wanted to make a pressurized compartment for transporting tourists aboard a spacecraft. He proposed the idea to NASA, but the agency rejected it. Then the partners refocused on creating a commercially available laboratory in shuttles (for conducting research in orbit) for private companies and scientific institutes.

The Spacehab board of directors was headed by James Biggs, a former NASA administrator, and Richard Jacobson, former head of the Delta rocket program at McDonnell Douglas, became CEO in 1987. That same year, the company's office moved from Seattle to sit across the street from NASA headquarters, and the following year Spacehab received its first contract from the agency to develop a pressurized module. This attracted the company's first investors, from private investors in Taiwan to institutional investors including Mitsubishi Trust Bank and Banque National de Paris.

In 1993, NASA reported the first-ever shuttle launch with a Spacehab module on board. Two years later, the company held an IPO, selling securities at $12 apiece - for a total of $61.9 million. At that time, it was the only specialized player offering to invest in the commercialization of space. However, due to the lack of stable income, its quotation quickly declined.

In the following years, the company built a new module for NASA. In 1999, it was used to resupply the newly launched International Space Station.

In 2009, Spacehab changed its name to Astrotech, which "better reflects its focus. In 2014, the company sold its space division to a Lockheed Ma subsidiary for $61 million and focused on mass spectrometers.