What is Exostar? Modules, integrations and alternatives
Exostar is a vendor of identity, access management and secure collaboration services for the aerospace and defense community. Large primes and their suppliers use it to give supplier users a single credential for accessing partner applications. It also offers supplier risk and compliance capabilities.
Also known as: Exostar LLC, Exostar Secure Access Manager, Exostar MAG
Exostar was formed to serve the aerospace and defense industry and is best known for federated identity and access management between large manufacturers and their supply chains. Instead of each prime issuing separate credentials to thousands of suppliers, suppliers can use an identity issued and verified through Exostar to reach multiple customer applications.
For a manufacturer or MRO in the defense supply chain, Exostar often appears as a requirement: a customer instructs the supplier to register and obtain credentials so they can access a collaboration portal, submit documents or take part in a program. It is therefore less a system a company selects freely than a service the customer community adopts.
In the technology stack, Exostar sits at the identity and access layer, not the production layer. It does not replace ERP, MES or PLM. It governs who can reach shared applications and, through related offerings, helps manage supplier risk and compliance information. Internal systems typically connect to it through identity federation standards.
Modules and capabilities
Secure Access Manager
Identity and access management service that lets external users authenticate with a strong credential to reach partner applications.
Managed Access Gateway
A service for provisioning and managing access to applications for a prime's supplier community.
Partner Information Manager
Helps collect and share supplier and partner profile information for onboarding and ongoing management.
Multi-factor credentials
Strong authentication options for users accessing sensitive partner systems.
Supplier risk and compliance services
Questionnaire and assessment capabilities used by programs to gauge supplier risk and compliance readiness.
Collaboration services
Secure sharing and workflow capabilities for program participants; confirm current offerings with the vendor.
Integrations and data access
Identity federation
Applications connect using federation standards such as SAML so that Exostar-issued identities can access them.
Directory services
Enterprise directories can be linked for user provisioning and lifecycle management; confirm supported methods.
Customer applications
Prime-specific portals, supplier systems and collaboration tools are the typical targets of federated access.
Provisioning APIs
Provisioning and administration interfaces support managing supplier user populations at scale.
Supplier data exchange
Supplier profile and assessment data can be shared with customer procurement and quality systems.
Strengths
- Purpose-built for the aerospace and defense community and its access requirements
- Reduces the number of separate credentials suppliers must manage
- Familiar to many primes, which can simplify supplier onboarding conversations
- Strong authentication options for sensitive collaboration
- Offers supplier risk and compliance workflows alongside access services
Limitations
- Selection is often driven by customers, so suppliers may have little choice about using it
- It governs access and collaboration, not production, planning or quality execution
- Suppliers serving several primes may still juggle multiple portals and requirements
- Compliance responsibilities remain with the customer even when using the service
Where AI helps Exostar users
- - Helping supplier staff complete risk and compliance questionnaires by retrieving answers from internal policies, with human sign-off
- - Summarizing access reviews and flagging dormant or excessive supplier accounts
- - Answering onboarding questions about which credentials and portals apply to which program
- - Mapping flowdown clauses to internal controls so compliance owners see gaps
- - Running these assistants on private infrastructure so program and supplier data stays inside the organization
Evaluating Exostar? Check these
- Ask your customers which Exostar services they actually require before purchasing credentials
- Check how your internal identity provider will federate with it
- Plan user onboarding and credential renewal so access does not lapse mid-program
- Confirm what the service does and does not cover against your compliance obligations
- Keep a register of which customer portals depend on which credentials
- Compare costs and effort across all primes you serve, not just one
Common alternatives: Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Ping Identity, Microsoft 365 GCC High, Kiteworks, PreVeil.
Frequently asked questions
What is Exostar used for?
Exostar is used in aerospace and defense for identity and access management, secure collaboration and supplier risk and compliance workflows. Suppliers commonly register because a prime requires a credential to reach a partner portal or take part in a program.
Is Exostar an ERP or MES?
No. It operates at the identity, access and collaboration layer. It does not handle production planning, inventory or shop floor execution. Manufacturers still need ERP, MES and quality systems for those functions, and those can connect to Exostar for access control.
Does using Exostar make a supplier compliant?
Using the service supports controlled access and information sharing, but it does not by itself satisfy a supplier's regulatory or contractual obligations. Those depend on the supplier's own controls, policies and evidence, which should be validated by qualified advisors.
What are alternatives to Exostar?
General identity platforms such as Microsoft Entra ID, Okta or Ping Identity cover access management, while secure collaboration tools such as Kiteworks or PreVeil address file sharing. They do not replicate the industry-wide supplier community, so the customer's requirement often decides.
Can AI help with Exostar-related work?
Yes, mainly around the surrounding paperwork and reviews: drafting questionnaire responses from internal policy documents, summarizing access reviews and answering onboarding questions. Sensitive material should be processed by models hosted privately, with a person approving anything submitted to a customer.
Running Exostar?
We add AI, chat, automation and integrations to the systems manufacturers already run, on-prem if needed.
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