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Electronics Production |

RUAG Space takes further steps into New Space

RUAG Space has signed a cooperation agreement with Italian space company SITAEL. RUAG Space will provide Payload Electronics for testing purposes that will fly on the first STRIVING small satellite being launched on Vega SSMS POC flight in 2019.

STRIVING is a one-stop-shop commercial service offering access to space for testing, validating and/or operating technologies and solutions to both private and public entities. By committing to this mission, RUAG Space positions itself again strongly as a supplier to the New Space market. For SITAEL it is a very important step, showing growth in the field of Space services in general and Small Satellites based services in particular, a press release reads. STRIVING is a Partnership between the European Space Agency and SITAEL, under the Pioneer Programme. This Pioneer programme helps companies to provide in-orbit demonstration and validation for third parties. Pioneer falls under the ESA’s ARTES programme (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems). The RUAG Space Electronics products on STRIVING cover essential products used for satellites, such as navigation receivers and on-board computers. They are based on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, and will achieve crucial flight heritage on this launch. Applying standard components that are being qualified for space is relatively new for the industry, and RUAG is advancing this transition actively. As opposed to individual components that are tailor made for space, COTS allow for higher performance, faster delivery, higher volumes – at significantly lower cost. “As a supplier, we see our role as the ones driving process advancements, in order to bring cost down for our customers. This has an impact on the entire value chain,” says Peter Guggenbach, CEO of RUAG Space. “The flight heritage on Striving will prove the capabilities of our newest products up in orbit – making them ready for commercial applications.” Mr. Zaccheo, CEO SITAEL, adds: “In the Space Economy era it is essential for Space innovators to have the possibility of quickly improving their product maturity and STRIVING provides a reliable and cost effective end-to-end service to drastically reduce the time-to-market of such new technologies. Having a company like RUAG on board is an additional proof that this will be a revolution in our business.” The RUAG Space sites in Sweden, Finland and Austria all contribute on the SITAEL-contract which will give further proof of the performance and reliability in space of RUAG´s new products – a COTS Single Board Computer (cSBC), and the required mechanics, interfaces and power boards. They are all based upon commercial technology, which is specifically adapted for space use. The COTS Single Board Computer (cSBC) includes a GPS receiver which can be used to perform Radio Occultation measurements. Radio Occultation is one of the top 3-4 inputs to the weather models used for climate research and predicting the weather. The Striving Radio Occultation payload is one step to developing a low cost medium performance Radio Occultation instrument.

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March 21 2024 8:48 am V22.4.9-2
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