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| Company type | Joint-stock company |
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| Industry | Space |
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
Key people | Andre Wall (CEO) |
| Revenue | Fr339 million (US$341 million) (2019) |
Number of employees | 1,265 (2019) |
| Website | beyondgravity.com |
Beyond Gravity is the space-oriented segment of the Swiss technology groupRUAG. At a total of thirteen sites inSwitzerland (Bern,Zurich,Emmen andNyon),Sweden (Gothenburg,Linköping),Finland (Tampere),USA (Titusville,Decatur),Austria (Vienna,Berndorf) andPortugal (Lisbon), Beyond Gravity employs around 1,265 people and posted sales of 339 million Swiss Francs in 2019.[1][2][3][4] As a supplier ofArianespace, Beyond Gravity is also a shareholder, with 0.82% of capital in 2018.[5]
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.[6]
The company began in the late 1970s as a subcontractor of Oerlikon Contraves (later named Oerlikon Space) carrying out final assembly of payload fairings forAriane rockets. 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,Finland was 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 States at sites inDecatur, Alabama;Titusville, Florida; and Denver (Centennial), Colorado. During 2016 the company HTS GmbH in Coswig nearDresden was acquired as the first site inGermany. After a two-year consolidation period, the name was changed to RUAG Space Germany GmbH.[7]
In 2018, the Swedish branch of the company, RUAG Space AB (later named Beyond Gravity AB), had 332 employees inGothenburg and 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 andEricsson asSaab Ericsson Space until Ericsson sold its stake to SAAB together withSaab Microwave Systems in 2006.[8]
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.[9]
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 manufacturespayload fairings for a number of launchers including a 5.4-metre-wide (18 ft) design in common use across theAriane 6,[10]H3 (W-type faring),[11]Terran R,[12] andVulcan Centaur.[13] It also makes smaller fairings for theAtlas V andVega C.[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 honeycomb and facesheets ofcarbon fiber reinforced polymer. Whereas previous processes relied onautoclaves to cure the composite material, since 2016 the company transitioned to an Out-of-autoclave approach.[14] With this approach, each fairing half-shell is cured in anindustrial oven as 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.[15]
RUAG Space in Switzerland manufactures fairings for Europe's Ariane and Vega launchers
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