RUAG Space has received an order from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to deliver a large satellite container and a multipurpose trolley for NASA satellites — the total order volume for both container and trolley is worth approximately 2 million euros.

From 2022 onwards, this container will enable ground handling of satellites on Earth for as many as three NASA missions, including the deep space mission Europa Clipper, the Psyche asteroid mission and the NISAR Earth Observation (EO) mission from NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The transport container protects the satellites during their travel from the production facility to the spaceport and is equipped with a special damping system and climate control.
In total, RUAG Space so far has delivered more than 60 customized spacecraft containers to governmental customers like ESA, NASA and to commercial customers such as Ball Aerospace, Maxar, NASA and others. From the more than 60 delivered containers, a third went to the USA.

A multi-purpose trolley from RUAG Space will support the interplanetary NASA spacecraft Europa Clipper during integration. The trolley can rotate and tilt the spacecraft during integration. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Jupiter’s moon Europa to determine whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2024. In total, RUAG Space has delivered more than 80 Multi-Purpose Trolleys to institutional and commercial customers in Europe and the USA.

“Our containers are used for a broad range of missions, from science missions, earth observations satellites to commercial satellite constellations,” said León Chardel. “The United States are a very important market for us. The new orders are a further step to expand our business in the USA. Satellites are highly sensitive and expensive products. Our customized containers make sure that this precious cargo is protected in the best possible way during transport.”