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.

STRIVING is a Partnership between the European Space Agency and SITAEL, under the Pioneer Programme. This Pioneer programme help 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.

ABOUT RUAG SPACE

RUAG Space is the leading supplier to the space industry in Europe, with a growing presence in the United States. With around 1,300 staff across six countries, it develops and manufactures products for satellites and launch vehicles – playing a key role both in the institutional and commercial space market. RUAG Space is a division of the international technology Group RUAG. RUAG develops and markets internationally sought-after technology applications in the fields of aerospace and defense for use on land, in the air and in space. 56 percent of RUAG’s products and services are destined for the civil market and 44% for the military market. The Group is headquartered in Bern (Switzerland). It has production sites in Switzerland and in 15 other countries in Europe, the United States and Asia-Pacific. RUAG generates sales of approximately CHF 1.96 billion and has over 9,200 employees – 400 of whom are trainees. Visit www.ruag.com.

ABOUT SITAEL

SITAEL is the largest privately-owned Space Company in Italy and worldwide leader in the Small Satellites sector. With over 350 employees and state-of-the-art facilities, SITAEL covers a wide range of activities in development of small satellite platforms, advanced propulsion systems and on board avionics, providing turn-key solutions for Earth observation, telecom and science. Being one of the main players of the Space Economy, SITAEL is changing the way to conceive space products, both in the upstream and downstream segments, providing, thanks to its IoT capabilities, competitive smart services for a wide range of applications. SITAEL belongs to Angel Group, an Italian holding world leader in Railway, Aerospace and Aeronautics markets. For further information visit sitael.com.

For more information, please contact:

Nike Möhle, VP Communications, RUAG Space / nike.moehle@ruag.com /
Mobile: +41 79 578 44 96
www.ruag.com/space
www.twitter.com/ruagspace

Francesco Morsillo, Marketing Space, SITAEL /francesco.morsillo@sitael.com
sitael.com