Astrotech Appoints New COO

Austin, Tex., February 3, 2015--Astrotech Corporation (Nasdaq:ASTC) today announced that it has appointed Raj Mellacheruvu as Chief Operating Officer ("COO") of the Company. Mr. Mellacheruvu’s appointment is effective as of February 2, 2015. In this new role,  Mellacheruvu will report to Thomas B. Pickens III, Chairman & CEO of Astrotech Corporation and help lead business operations for Astrotech and its subsidiaries.

Raj Mellacheruvu

Mr. Mellacheruvu has over 20 years of experience in start-up and large enterprise environments focused on technology innovation, maximizing P&L performance and full lifecycle product management. Since 2013, he has worked with 1st Detect, a subsidiary of Astrotech Corp., in the capacity of interim COO driving product strategy, management and operational excellence. Prior to working with 1st Detect, Mr. Mellacheruvu served as VP of Products and Strategy at a leading centralized & virtualized computing technology firm in Austin, Texas.

Mellacheruvu has an MBA in Business Strategy & Finance from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Astrotech focuses on identifying and commercializing space technology for terrestrial use. It has two wholly owned subsidiaries: 1st Detect Corporation is developing  a breakthrough miniaturized mass spectrometer, the MMS-1000™, while Astrogenetix, Inc. is a biotechnology company utilizing microgravity as a research platform for drug discovery and development.