It is known for lighting and electronics integrations on military, commercial, and business aircraft and semiconductor test systems.

[1][2] Astronics was founded in 1968 by Thomas L. Robinson, Sr., formerly of the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, to pursue commercial applications of electroluminescence.

Robert Keane (founder of Vistaprint and CEO of Cimpress) owns approximately 20% of Astronics' Class B stock and is a chairman of the board since 2019.

Robert Keane worked at Astronics before founding Vistaprint and is also the son of former Astronics CEO (1972-2002) and chairman (1974-2019) Kevin Keane, who died in 2019[3][4][5][6] In 2010, Lufthansa Technik AG brought suit in multiple global jurisdictions against the Advanced Electronic Systems (AES) subsidiary of Astronics for patent infringement of the technology used in the AES EmPower in-seat power supplies.

[7][8][9] Astronics subsidiaries and brands include AES, AeroSat, Armstrong, Astronics Test Systems (ATS), Ballard Technology, Custom Control Concepts (CCC), Connectivity Systems and Certification (CSC), Diagnosys (now ATS), DME (Designing, Engineering, and Manufacturing), Freedom Communication Technologies, LSI (Luminescent Systems, Inc.), Max-Viz, PECO, and PGA Electronic.