The Applied Scientific and Technical Research Organization (ASTRO) is the largest scientific research company in the world and is known for its amazing inventions and stunning scientific breakthroughs.

Research is conducted under contract to other corporations and the government. While these projects often result in breakthroughs, they mostly serve to help finance so-called "pure" research projects in a variety of fields, such as physics, atomic theory, chemistry, engineeering, electronics, biology, medicine and genetics, to name just a few.