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Company Name: Swiss Propulsion Laboratory
Company Type: Propulsion
Company Profile
What is the Swiss Propulsion Laboratory SPL?
The Swiss Propulsion Laboratory (SPL), founded in autumn 1998, is running integrated programs focussing on research and development of space-technology in Switzerland. SPL is located in Langenthal/Switzerland. This town is placed between Zurich and Bern, the capital of Switzerland (see also our facilities-pages).
Objectives and Strategies
SPL aims to develop, build and run reasonable priced systems to transport small payloads into a low-earth orbit (LEO). Old and established paths are intentionally renounced in order to envisage new and innovative concepts covering impacts on our environment as much as possible.
Involving external facilties and inviting other organizations to participate allows SPL to achieve its objectives. The components will be developped in a joint effort of SPL, interested universities, graduate schools and Switzerlands precision industry. SPL will provide the required co-ordination of all involved parties, for example by extracting and forwarding precisely defined technical problems to educational institutions, thereby enabling them to effectively take part in space-technology oriented "applied science".
Projects (see also the dedicated pages about our projects)
SPL is focussing on the following projects in the long term, which will be compiled gradually (see also our project pages):
Priority Project-name Description
1 Implementation of the required infrastructure; Setup of contacts between SPL, interested universities, graduate schools and industry; Gaining mutual trust and recognition
2 Development and implementation of a single-stage rocket with a lift-off-mass of ~250kg, powered by a LOX/kerosene engine with ~8 kN thrust, apogee > 100km with a payload of ~25kg, fed by a gas pressurization system.
3 Development and implementation of a suborbital two-stage rocket with a lift-off-mass of ~1'500kg, powered by LOX/kerosene engines on both stages. Fed by a gas pressurization system. The engines will be mounted on a gimballing system capable of slewing the engine in the pitch and yaw planes. A cold gas thruster system will control the vehicle's roll rate.
4 Development and implementation of a three-stage rocket, capable of bringing small civilian payloads in a low earth-orbit (LEO), lift-off-mass of ~10'000kg, powered by LOX/kerosene engines on all stages, a turbo-pump will feed the propellants. The two upper stages will be fed by a gas pressurization system. The engines will also be mounted on a gimballing system. A cold gas thruster system controls the vehicle's roll rate.
X-Bow II and X-Bow III will be fully reusable. X-Bow comes from "cross-bow", an ancient weapon which is the symbol of swiss quality today.
Financial aspects
As a non-profit organization, SPL depends on sponsorship by various organizations. Sponsorship of funds and resources are both of high interest. ARO TECHNOLOGIES is SPL's first sponsor, as can be seen on our facility-pages. Their support for SPL's venture is highly welcome. In return, sponsors get the chance to gain more visibility on the market. Moreover, by supporting highly motivated students they actively help to build the foundation on which Switzerland can extend its involvement in space research and such strengthen its scientific reputation and global economical position.. Sponsors will be listed in our sponsor-page.
About Company
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