Beyond Gravity, a global supplier of space technologies headquartered in Zurich, has expanded its manufacturing area in Switzerland for solar array drive mechanisms. The mechanisms are used to orient satellite solar wings toward the sun, ensuring optimal energy generation. “By doubling our manufacturing area we have increased our production capacity fivefold”, says Oliver Grassmann, Executive Vice President Satellites at Beyond Gravity.
“We can now produce 200 mechanisms for aligning solar wings per year instead of the previous 36. This year alone, we have already delivered more units than in the past three years combined.” Oliver Grassmann sees the expansion as “a key step in the rapidly ongoing industrialization of our production processes. We are focusing on modular and standardized designs to support scalability.” At the same time, Beyond Gravity is already working on the next generation of its solar array drive mechanisms, shares Oliver Grassmann. “Our future mechanisms will allow two-axis alignment of the solar wings to further increase energy yield.”
Possible expansion in Florida if demand continues to grow
Beyond Gravity is one of the global market leaders for solar array drive mechanisms. “We sell our mechanisms worldwide, primarily in Europe and the United States,” says Oliver Grassmann. “Should demand from the U.S. market continue to grow, we are prepared to expand production capacity at our existing facility in Titusville, Florida, where we currently operate a high-volume, highly automated satellite panel production.” Beyond Gravity offers a wide range of solar array drive mechanisms, from microsatellites to large Earth observation and telecommunications platforms. The company’s mechanisms have been deployed across a diverse range of missions, from commercial to scientific, including ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury, NASA’s Artemis lunar program, and the European Space Agency’s Hera planetary defense mission launched in October 2024.
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