Beyond Gravity
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| Company type | Joint-stock company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Space technology |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Headquarters | Zürich,Switzerland |
Key people | CEO Andre Wall |
| Revenue |
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Number of employees | 1265 (2019) |
| Footnotes / references 24.10.2019 | |
Beyond Gravityis the space-oriented segment of the Swiss technology groupRUAG.At a total of fourteen sites inSwitzerland(Zurich,EmmenandNyon),Sweden(Gothenburg,Linköping),Finland(Tampere),Germany(Coswig),USA(Denver,Titusville,Decatur) andAustria(Vienna,Berndorf), Beyond Gravity employs around 1,265 people and posted sales of 339 million Swiss Francs in 2019.[1][2]As a supplier ofArianespace,Beyond Gravity is also a shareholder, with 0.82% of capital in 2018.[3]
History
[edit]Formally known as RUAG Space USA. Beyond Gravity is a segment of the Swiss technology group RUAG, with locations in Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, USA and Austria.[4]
The company began in the late 1970s as a subcontractor of Oerlikon Contraves (later named Oerlikon Space) carrying out final assembly of payload fairings forArianerockets. These activities took place at Emmen,Switzerland.Over the years, it expanded primarily through acquisitions. First, the Swiss government owned company took over the companies Mecanex (Nyon) and HTS (Wallisellen). In 2008, it acquired the Swedish SAAB Space and its subsidiary Austrian Aerospace.
In the following years, the company expanded further. In 2015 a site in Tampere,Finlandwas acquired. The facility in Finland has 40 employees. By 2015, RUAG Space USA (later named Beyond Gravity USA) had 4 sites in 4 different states. In 2018, 109 employees were working in theUnited Statesat sites inDecatur, Alabama;Titusville, Florida;and Denver (Centennial), Colorado. During 2016 the company HTS GmbH in Coswig nearDresdenwas acquired as the first site inGermany.After a two-year consolidation period, the name was changed to RUAG Space Germany GmbH.[5]
In 2018, the Swedish branch of the company, RUAG Space AB (later named Beyond Gravity AB), had 332 employees inGothenburgand 120 employees inLinköping,with two subsidiaries in Austria and Finland. This branch specializes in related equipment, for example on-board computer systems, antennas and microwave electronics for satellites and adapters and separation systems for launchers. The company headquarters is located in Gothenborg, Sweden and a division for mechanical systems is situated in Linköping, Sweden. In May 2015, the company had 415 employees. It was originally started as a joint venture between SAAB andEricssonasSaab Ericsson Spaceuntil Ericsson sold its stake to SAAB together withSaab Microwave Systemsin 2006.[6]
On May 1, 2022, to reflect the change of visions of the company and the focus towards the highly dynamic space sector, RUAG Space was re-branded to Beyond Gravity.[7]
As a result of its European origins, Beyond Gravity has been part of many European space missions, but is also building a US market presence. Notable scientific spacecraft to use Beyond Gravity components include theHerschel Space Observatory,Planck,Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity,BepiColombo,Galileo,Solar Orbiter,Automated Transfer Vehicle,Aeolus,andICESat2.Beyond Gravity products also fly on theAriane 5,Vega,Falcon 9,andAtlaslaunch vehicles.
Payload fairings
[edit]Beyond Gravity manufacturespayload fairingsfor a number of launchers, includingArianespace's Ariane[8]andVegarockets,[8]United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 500 series,[9]and for ULA's forthcomingVulcanlauncher.[10]
A payload fairing protects the payload from the environment during the ascent, ensuring cleanliness and limiting its exposure to the intense noise, vibration and aerodynamic pressure occurring during launch. Once the dynamic pressure and thermal fluxes fall below a threshold, this structure separates via explosives from the launch vehicle, exposing the payload and reducing the mass of the still accelerating vehicle.[citation needed]
Payload fairings consist of a sandwich structure, with a core ofaluminum honeycomband facesheets ofcarbon fiber reinforced polymer.Whereas previous processes relied onautoclavesto cure the composite material, since 2016 the company transitioned to an Out-of-autoclave approach.[11]With this approach, each fairing half-shell is cured in anindustrial ovenas one single piece. In addition to increasing the structural efficiency, this approach reduces the processing steps as it consolidates all parts at once: inner and outer skins, honeycomb sandwich core, and externalcork-based thermal protection system.[12]
References
[edit]- ^Annual Report RUAG Holding AG, 2019https://annualreport.ruag /2019/sites/ar19/files/media_document/2020-04/GB_RUAG_2019_EN.pdf
- ^"RUAG annual report 2019".
- ^"Company profile – Repartition of Arianespace capital".Arianespace.Retrieved25 October2018.
- ^"Our story. | Beyond Gravity".beyondgravity.Retrieved2022-05-02.
- ^"RUAG Location finder".
- ^Berg, Martin (2006-06-12)."Ericsson säljer Ericsson Microwave Systems till Saab"(in Swedish).Dagens Nyheter.Retrieved2008-11-09.[dead link]
- ^"Questions & Answers Rebranding Beyond Gravity | RUAG".ruag.Retrieved2022-05-02.
- ^ab"Separation test of a Vega fairing".European Space Agency.17 October 2019.
RUAG Space in Switzerland manufactures fairings for Europe's Ariane and Vega launchers
- ^Stephen Clark (8 August 2019)."Atlas 5 launch timeline on the AEHF 5 mission".Spaceflight Now.
- ^Jeff Foust(15 April 2016)."Ruag to make payload fairings for ULA's Vulcan".Space News.
- ^"Faster and cheaper into space | Annual report 2017".annualreport.ruag.Retrieved2022-05-02.
- ^"Size-unlimited OOA composite process enables next-gen system".compositesworld.Retrieved2022-05-02.
External links
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