Involved were Hamburg and Bremen notables and the financiers.
The director of the company was the Geheimer Kommerzienrat (councillor) Adolph von Hansemann.
The following year, an additional tobacco plantation was founded in Jomba, and another in 1893 in Maraga.
In addition to the tobacco growing and export, Astrolabe also shipped exotic woods and experimented with the cultivation of coconut palms, Liberian coffee and natural rubber.
In the vicinity of the Astrolabe Company stations, the evangelic Rhenish Missionary Society was also active.