• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • Perspectives
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

RUAG Space Is Celebrating 30 Years Of Space Thermal Protection

September 24, 2021

RUAG Space has been producing space thermal protection at the firm’s site in Austria for 30 years — technology from RUAG Space now protects more than 400 satellites in space from the heat and cold of the universe.

Thermal insulation from RUAG Space protects most European space satellites from the extreme temperatures in space, such as all of the more than 20 Galileo satellites currently in space, the “European GPS.” Thermal insulation from RUAG Space is also used in other international missions, such as for the Mercury probe of the European-Japanese “BepiColombo” mission, which has been in space since October 2018, or the ESA/NASA sun mission “Solar Orbiter.”

Gold-colored thermal insulation from RUAG Space for the European navigation satellite Galileo.
Copyright: OHB

For the growing commercial space market, RUAG Space supplies thermal protection for swarms of smallsats, such as the constellation of the 322 OneWeb telecom satellites currently on-orbit, which brings internet connectivity to remote regions such as the Arctic. RUAG Space also produced the thermal insulation for the constellation of the 80 Iridium NEXT telecom satellites.

At the start of 1991, RUAG Space received its first order for satellite thermal protection for the four satellites of the “Cluster” mission of ESA and NASA (investigation of the Earth’s magnetic field) as well as for the ESA/NASA “SOHO” solar observatory.

Since 1993, thermal insulation from RUAG Space has also been used for insulation tasks in the field of low-temperature technology on Earth, for example in the medical sector (low-temperature insulation for magnetic resonance tomographs) or in the energy sector (insulation for liquid gas tanks). In addition, insulation is used in particle accelerators, such as at CERN in Geneva.

Insulation for launchers In addition to heat protection for satellites, the company has also been developing and producing high-temperature insulation for rockets since 2017, for example for the new European launcher Ariane 6. The high-temperature insulation consists of glass ceramic and Kevlar, a heat-resistant synthetic fiber.

“More than 400 satellites are currently in space, which our thermal dress protects from the heat and cold of the universe, averaging minus 200 and plus 200 degrees Celsius,” said Anders Linder, Senior Vice President Satellites at RUAG Space. The thermal protection consists of several layers of metal-vaporized plastic films, each layer thinner than a hair. On the journey from Earth to space, our insulation has to withstand extreme heat of up to 1,700 degrees Celsius for a few minutes.”

Filed Under: Manufacturing, Satellites, SmallSat, Thermal Protection

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • First Structural Metal Cutting In Space Demo By Nanoracks + Maxar Will Be Aboard The SpaceX Transporter 5 Rideshare Mission
  • Amazon Web Services Names The 10 Participants For Their 2022 AWS Space Accelerator Program
  • Satellite Laser Communication System Projected To Grow To Million$$$$ By 2030
  • Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Enlists NanoAvionics For Three Surveillance Satellites
  • Rivada Space Networks Works Toward The Launch Of Their LEO Constellation

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!