Space Is the Place
By Hannah Clark

(FORTUNE Small Business) – Planetariums aren't just for learning the difference between Andromeda and Orion's belt. Sky-Skan, based in Nashua, N.H., makes digital technology that transforms old-fashioned planetariums into IMAX-like movie screens. The audience is taken on virtual rocket trips through the universe, skimming craters on Saturn, dodging black holes, and in some cases controlling the action with buttons. Sky-Skan even teaches customers to produce their own shows. "This is not your father's planetarium," says president Steve Savage. The company, which has annual revenues of $10 million, employs only 33 people but has a broad reach. In the coming months, Sky-Skan will be working on two projects in Japan, one in Brazil, and another closer to home, at prep school Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Mass.