Founded and formerly headquartered in San Antonio, Rothe Development Inc. holds millions of dollars worth of contracts with NASA, primarily providing IT and support services. “From launch broadcast and multimedia storytelling to engineering integration, IT systems, and mission operations, our team has been deeply embedded across Artemis II at NASA,” the Webster-based company says.

According to Karen Wheeler-Hall, Rothe’s owner and CEO, the firm holds a portion of an $814 million contract to provide NASA with videography, photography and other multimedia services. “If it is on film or on the web our contract did it,” she said via email. “ We are one of six companies on the contract and we receive roughly 28% of the contract share.”  Rothe is also the prime contractor “that supports the astronauts’ computers, phones and other devices, making sure they are able to communicate at home and in space,” Wheeler-Hall said.  The company also is a subcontractor for training astronauts in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center in Houston, which prepares them for spacewalks and recovery after a splashdown.  “This includes engineers that design the mockups, divers to work with the astronauts as they are training and divers that build the mockups under water,” Wheeler-Hall said.

While the company is now headquartered in Webster, its team in San Antonio includes IT support services, contract management and program managers.