The Astrotech Cartel is the single largest manufacturer of spaceships, including Hyperdrive-equipped ships, in the Pocket Universe. It is headquartered on the planet Chandilar and is mostly owned by Shi'ar noble families who are represented on the Imperial Council of the New Shi'ar Imperium. The company was first founded in Year 225 of the New Shi'ar Calendar.
The Cartel in recent millennia has faced more serious competiton from smaller spaceship-building companies run by Asguardian Dwarfs or Humans, particularly those based in the Systems Commonwealth and the Interplanetary Neo-British Kingdom.