[1] The Aster is primarily operated by France and Italy, as well as the United Kingdom as an export customer, and is an integrated component of the PAAMS air defence system, known in the Royal Navy as Sea Viper.

As the principal weapon of the PAAMS, the Aster equips the Horizon-class frigates in French and Italian service as well as the British Type 45 destroyers.

During the 1980s, the predominant missiles in Franco-Italian service were short-range systems such as the French Crotale, Italian Selenia Aspide or American Sea Sparrow, with ranges up to a dozen kilometres.

France and Italy decided to start development of a domestic medium/long range surface-to-air missile to enter service in the first decade of the 21st century, that would give them comparable range but superior interception capability to the American Standard or British Sea Dart already in service.

In May 1996, trials of the Aster 15 active electromagnetic final guidance system against live targets began.

[7] The resulting Aster surface-to-air missile meets inter-service and international requirements, addressing the needs of the land, air and naval forces of France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The decision to base the missile around a common terminal intercept "dart" to which different sized boosters can be attached, has made it modular and extensible.

From 2002 to 2005, the Italian experimental frigate Carabiniere provided a test bed for live firing trials of the Aster 15 from Sylver A43 launchers with EMPAR and SAAM-it systems, and the trials of Aster 30 from Sylver A50 launchers with EMPAR and PAAMS(E) systems.

[9] In January 2023, the Italian and French Minister of Defense signed with MBDA a $2 billion contract for the purchase of 700 Aster missiles.

The Aster 30 Block 1 is used on the Eurosam SAMP/T system operated by the French Air and Space Force and the Italian Army.

[18] The Aster 30 has been incorporated by Eurosam into a mobile SAM system, fulfilling the ground-based theatre air defence/protection requirement.

[14] According to a news report of May 2023, "The Franco-Italian anti-aircraft missile system has arrived in Ukraine, and it will be serviced by 20 local experts.