Beyond Gravity will deliver the Sunshield Solar Array subsystem for Europe’s PLATO “planet hunting” mission to satellite builder OHB.
The Artemis space missions will write a piece of space history and bring humans to the Moon once again. The leading global supplier to the space industry Beyond Gravity is part of the first three Artemis missions and provides critical elements for the mission’s Orion spacecraft, SLS launch vehicles as well as the planned Gateway space station.
NASA satellites for deep space missions will be protected by a container from Beyond Gravity during the journey to Earth. NASA’s Europa Clipper interplanetary mission will use Beyond Gravity’s multi-purpose rover.
For the first time since 1972, humans will land on the Moon thanks to the Artemis missions. Later, a new space station (M) will orbit the Moon and serve as a staging post for astronauts and spacecraft. The Artemis 1 program will launch an empty spacecraft into lunar orbit as the first step, the second mission will already be manned, and in the third mission, four astronauts are expected to set foot on the Moon in 2025 for the first time in more more than 50 years. Closely related to the Artemis missions is the SLS (Space Launch System) launch vehicle. It will carry the Orion spacecraft. Beyond Gravity is supplying key elements for all Orion spacecraft as well as SLS launch vehicles.
orndré Wall, CEO of Beyond Gravity, “We are proud and honored to be part of these historic missions, contributing to the progress of humanity. Our employees in Switzerland, USA and Austria have been developing, manufacturing and testing for the success of these missions for many years.”
We apply our unique knowledge of innovation, development and manufacturing to help our customers successfully build and operate their satellite platforms and payloads.
“Our mechanisms have to perform particularly complex and extremely precise movements to position the solar panels correctly for all three Artemis missions. The work for this was done in Zurich, Switzerland. say Anders Linder, head of satellite business at Beyond Gravity. The peculiarity of the mechanisms is that it should be possible to fold the solar panels in such a way that they are not damaged when the propulsion system is turned on. This is due to the fact that the European Service Module (ESM) from prime contractor Airbus has its own propulsion system.
In addition, Beyond Gravity’s expertise in carbon fiber composites is helping to produce a large connector (universal phase adapter) that connects the launch vehicle and service module. “Work on this adapter began in 2017 and was carried out at the US facility in Decatur, Alabama. We did the design analysis and manufacturing in our USA factory. added Holger Wentscher, head of launcher business at Beyond Gravity. The adapter is 9.9 meters high and 8.4 meters in diameter at its widest point. The adapter from prime contractor Dynetics will be used for the first time on the second Artemis mission.
Together with its partner TTTech, Beyond Gravity is supplying the core network electronics for NASA’s Gateway, which will ensure secure and reliable communications between Earth and the space station. American satellite manufacturers Maxar and Northrop Grumman will integrate products into the gateway, which will orbit the Moon as a manned space station more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth and serve as a stopover for astronauts and spacecraft.