Beyond Gravity: Tests on Earth for success in space

The Linköping-based company has a track record of almost 1,300 launches – 100 per cent successful. Its customers include the biggest players in the US market.

"Here in Linköping we mainly work with mechanisms for rockets. These include dispensers, which allow several satellites to be launched on the same launch, and separation systems, where we are the market leader," says Terje Hellron, Test & Verification Engineer at Beyond Gravity.

The separation system consists of a cone-shaped adapter that fits the launch vehicle at one end and the satellite at the other. An aluminium strap is tightened around the adapter, which opens when the satellite reaches orbit. A separation system has three purposes - to hold, to release in the right place and to release gently. What Beyond Gravity is doing is rocket science in the truest sense of the word.

Exposing materials to extreme temperatures

By September 2024, the company will have almost 90 per cent of the commercial market. This leadership is the result of thousands of hours of testing.

"Our solutions will only be in space for a short time, but during that time the materials will be exposed to extreme temperatures. We therefore need to test our materials under these conditions on Earth to ensure that they will perform as we want them to in space when the time comes," says Terje Hellron.

During the tests, the materials are subjected to high levels of stress to see when or if something breaks. This can include alternating between cold and heat, but also strong vibrations over a long period of time. Beyond Gravity has been testing its materials at RISE for several years and plans to continue doing so.

"It would be possible to build our own cooling chamber, but it would be easier and more cost-effective for us to use an external laboratory that already has all the necessary knowledge, expertise and experience. RISE can also carry out tests at short notice, and that's important to us because our projects are sometimes rushed,' says Terje Hellron, and continues

"The people in the lab are very competent and thorough, and they understand what we need to find out. Sometimes we're testing small things, but sometimes we're looking at whole systems of two or three metres in diameter, and RISE has chambers of that size. We really appreciate that."

The only one in Sweden

Magnus Edin, project manager for materials testing at RISE, emphasises that the capacity mentioned by Terje Hellron is unique.

"As far as I know, we are the only ones in Sweden who do this kind of testing. We test some in Piteå and the rest in Borås. It's a very fun project where we have contact with both the team in Linköping and the Swiss from the head office in Zurich. We don't even know in which country the final products of the latest material samples will be used, but it is all the more important that they can trust the results we deliver, regardless of the conditions at the destination," says Magnus Edin.

At the time of this interview, Beyond Gravity has just opened its new production facility, enabling a major ramp-up. And cold testing remains a critical part of the business as the biggest gets bigger.

"We are now working on a huge project that will last five or six years, and then we have our regular customers. It's full steam ahead," says Terje Hellron.