.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Homegrown Albuquerque firm Aspen Avionics has joined forces with the AIRO Group, a recently formed aerospace conglomerate that’s seeking to go public on a U.S. stock exchange. Aspen, a venture capital-backed firm that launched in 2004, merged last fall with the AIRO Group, which now unites nine diverse companies that are pooling their individual strengths in commercial and military markets for unmanned operating systems and aircraft. The AIRO Group, in turn, announced in March that it’s exploring options for a public listing through a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, potentially putting AIRO Group members on a joint fast track to begin publicly selling stock as a single entity with a diverse array of operations.