{"id":39277,"date":"2015-08-05T23:28:53","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T15:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ruag-to-establish-composites-production-capability-at-ula\/"},"modified":"2015-08-05T23:28:53","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T15:28:53","slug":"ruag-to-establish-composites-production-capability-at-ula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ruag-to-establish-composites-production-capability-at-ula\/","title":{"rendered":"RUAG to establish composites production capability at ULA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Swiss company RUAG will be setting up base at United Launch Alliance\u2019s Decatur facility in Alabama, following a deal to further strengthen their cooperation. RUAG are best known for their production of payload fairings for a number of launch vehicles. However, the deal is also aimed at providing additional composite hardware specific to ULA\u2019s Vulcan rocket.\n<\/p>\n<p>RUAG At ULA:<\/p>\n<p>RUAG Space has been in the fairing business since 1974 and has been responsible for the development and production of all Ariane launcher payload fairings.<\/p>\n<p>The company currently produces fairings for the&nbsp;Ariane 5, the&nbsp;Atlas V-500 launch vehicles as well as for the small European Launcher, Vega.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-32973\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Z95.jpg\" alt=\"Z9\" width=\"347\" height=\"233\">Production of the Ariane and Vega fairings will continue in&nbsp;Zurich\/Emmen \u2013 before being shipped from Emmen to the Kourou launch site via the Antonov 124 cargo plane.<\/p>\n<p>As such, no job losses in Switzerland&nbsp;are expected.<\/p>\n<p>RUAG will also be fabricating the fairings for the Ariane 6 rocket.<\/p>\n<p>Production of Atlas V and Vulcan fairings will now move to Decatur, per this week\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle <\/li>\n<li>ULA Forum Section<\/li>\n<li>65 Launch Vehicle Manuals (L2)<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWe are pleased with this new partnership that leverages so many mutually beneficial business objectives, while substantially lowering costs,\u201d noted Tory Bruno, ULA\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs ULA looks to the future, we will transform the future of space launch by making space more affordable and accessible, while continuing to deliver on ULA\u2019s unparalleled reliability and precision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/2015-06-19-222110-350x250.jpg\" alt=\"2015-06-19-222110\" width=\"350\" height=\"250\">The continued production of the Atlas V fairings \u2013 along with existing contracts relating to the interstage adaptor for the Atlas V-400 \u2013 will be boosted by the proposed fabrication of several new additional structures for the recently announced ULA Vulcan rocket.<\/p>\n<p>RUAG note their fairings are built with composite technology based on aluminum honeycomb cores with carbon fiber reinforced plastic face sheets. This construction method allows the combination of low mass with high stiffness.<\/p>\n<p>Their role with the Vulcan rocket may allow them to branch out into hardware elements such as&nbsp;engine heat shields, inter tanks, inter stages, payload adapters and boat tails \u2013 with Vulcan aiming to utilize reusable technologies.<\/p>\n<p>RUAG production in&nbsp;Decatur is expected to begin in mid-2017 to early 2018.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41223\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-162945-350x270.jpg\" alt=\"2015-08-05-162945\" width=\"350\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-162945-350x270.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-162945.jpg 404w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\">\u201cWe\u2019re proud that ULA has selected RUAG as a strategic partner,\u201d added Peter Guggenbach, CEO of RUAG Space. \u201cULA and RUAG have been working together successfully in the Atlas program for more than a decade. Now we can build on this collaboration with the new Vulcan launcher and the new production site in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having a base in the United States may also prove to be beneficial for RUAG\u2019s potential role with the Space Launch System (SLS).<\/p>\n<p>In previously reported efforts by SLS managers to advertise and further evaluate the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle\u2019s versatility, documentation (acquired by L2)&nbsp;portrayed one of the payload fairing options that could be used by SLS \u2013 specific to robotic spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-32972\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Z75.jpg\" alt=\"Z7\" width=\"350\" height=\"275\">Titled as \u201cObjective: Determine the Technical Feasibility of Utilizing a RUAG 5.4m PLF on SLS Vehicles &amp; Define a Potential Partnership Approach to Develop the System,\u201d the overview is based on using an Ariane 5 style fairing atop of the SLS.<\/p>\n<p>The SLS team are employing a \u201cTwo Way Feasibility Study of the Applicability of a RUAG 5.4m PLF to SLS, via \u201cRUAG assessment using NASA Evaluation Criteria (GR&amp;A), and a \u201cNASA assessment using RUAG PLF definition and NASA Generated Data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The intent, as noted by the presentation, is to reconcile the differences between the assessments by the end of study process.<\/p>\n<p>Associating with SLS will please local lawmakers, who have already noted their pleasure at the deal with ULA \u2013 with 100 new jobs expected to be generated. Most of those jobs will be new hires, in conjunction with some specialists already embedded with RUAG.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41227\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-165243-350x291.jpg\" alt=\"2015-08-05-165243\" width=\"350\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-165243-350x291.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-165243-420x350.jpg 420w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-05-165243.jpg 436w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\">\u201cThis exciting, new partnership highlights the fact that North Alabama continues to thrive in its long-standing position as a leader in space capabilities,\u201d Sen. Richard Shelby noted \u2013 himself a strong supporter of both ULA and SLS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am delighted that ULA\u2019s Decatur facility will continue to be at the forefront of the future of space launch, and I look forward to the jobs and economic growth that this production will bring to the region.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The move will also provide RUAG with additional benefits, such as reducing transportation costs associated with shipping fairings from Europe to the United&nbsp;States while also eliminating currency risks relating to contracts.<\/p>\n<p>(Images: Via RUAG, ULA and L2.)<\/p>\n<p>(To join L2, click here:&nbsp;http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swiss company RUAG will be setting up base at United Launch Alliance\u2019s Decatur facility in Alabama, following a deal to further strengthen their cooperation. RUAG are best known for their production of payload fairings for a number of launch vehicles. However, the deal is also aimed at providing additional composite hardware specific to ULA\u2019s Vulcan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7758,8660,363,364],"class_list":["post-39277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-atlas-v","tag-ruag","tag-ula","tag-vulcan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}