Constellation's History

Constellation was incorporated in Florida in September 1992 by Dr. Carl Rester who was at that time director of a federally funded research institute at the University of Florida. Building on the institute’s successes, Constellation opened its doors for business in St. Petersburg, FL in June 1993 and began an expansion into the former Dept. of Energy (DOE) Pinellas Plant, now known as the STAR (Pinellas County Young/Rainey Science Technology & Research) Center, with the opening of its crystal products laboratory in October 1995. Constellation completed its relocation into the STAR Center in the last quarter of 1996 and completed integrating all of the former DOE analytical laboratories into its operations during the first half of 1997.  Constellation currently occupies approximately 50,000 sq. ft. of the STAR Center.

Constellation’s first contract, starting in January 1994, was a two-year contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the Dept. of Defense (DoD) for developing new techniques in nuclear monitoring. In August 1996, Constellation started new DARPA-sponsored defense research and development contracts for the development of nonproliferation technologies. These contracts were successfully completed in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

In August 1998, contracts were started, completed at the end of 1999, that included development and delivery of mercuric iodide detectors, advanced nuclear detection systems, and final reports on improved forensics and analysis techniques.

In July 1999, Constellation became employee owned by purchasing of all assets and business from the trusts established upon the death of Dr. Rester. The purchase was accomplished by establishing CTC Holding Corporation as the purchasing entity. Immediately after the purchase, CTC Holding changed its name to Constellation Technology Corporation and the seller changed its name to Rester Laboratories, Inc.

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