Grob had previously built the Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus under licence.

The large wing area gives good low-speed handling characteristics but its high-speed performance is inferior to other Standard Class gliders.

In early versions, some of the fuselage frame was wood but this was replaced with a light alloy casting which sometimes cracked after heavy landings.

A slightly improved Standard Class version, the CS 77, was introduced in 1977.

One Astir (now residing at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center), flown by Robert Harris, broke the world absolute altitude record at 49,009 ft (14,938 m) on 17 February 1986.