I’m a huge SWISSto12 fan. The company is quickly expanding by using additive manufacturing to engineer better satellite Radio Frequency (RF) components. Satellite RF is one of the best applications for additive, and the company has parlayed that expertise into multiple components and its own satellite. Now, the Swiss company is expanding with production and R&D to Spain. This will help Spain leverage its excellent engineers and build a local supply base, thereby strengthening the country’s precision manufacturing and space ecosystem. This is a fantastic development for Spain and should help more companies view Spain as a suitable location for R&D in high-tech manufacturing.
An example of a SWISSto12 LEO passive beam forming antenna.
The facility will be in Madrid. The focus will be on designing payloads and terminals for its antenna product family. The company is developing phased array antennas, a notoriously complicated thing to do. The firm wants to make both ground terminals and the satellite-based units that communicate with them. Both could make extensive use of additive to make them more compact and easier to make. The team in Spain will also work on the HummingSat satellite.
SWISSto12 CEO Emile de Rijk said,
“Thanks to its world-leading technical universities and space industry ecosystem, Spain is recognised as a global hub for talent that is extremely relevant to SWISSto12. This new team is helping us accelerate our development and production of phased array antennas to meet strong customer demand for our satellite payloads and ground terminal systems. It also builds a strong and growing presence of SWISSto12 in the EU, and develops proximity with our partners, suppliers and customers in Spain, who play an important role in our growth journey.”
David Alvarez, who is an Active Antenna Architect, Spain Operations at SWISSto12, thinks that,
“We have built a team here in Madrid that is already contributing to some of our most advanced phased array technologies. Our Spanish facility is focused on both space and ground-based systems, and we benefit from close collaboration with our SWISSto12 colleagues worldwide. What draws people to work at SWISSto12 is the opportunity to work in a flexible, fast-moving environment that fosters innovation and provides customers with solutions to some of the biggest challenges in Satellite Communications.”
Waveguide filters and diplexers 3D printed by Swissto12.
This is a brilliant move by the Swiss firm. Spain still suffers from too little good employment. Yes, the economy is doing well, but a lot of people are underemployed or working in what is called locally a “minijob” capacity, where a person is funding their life with a part-time, lower-skilled job while unable to start a career or business. For Spanish people, housing price increases, especially in larger cities, have made it difficult to buy a house or even rent in the most desirable areas. Given the huge differential between Swiss and Spanish salaries, SWISSto12 could pay Spanish engineers very well and still save boatloads of money while attracting top talent that can live well. For international people, say from pricey California by way of JPL, Madrid will seem incredibly cheap as well.
Spain has a great firm, Aenium, which already uses additive to make aerospace components. Engine manufacturer ITP Aero also uses additive. Spain also has a network of innovative research institutes that work on topics such as powder and wire process development, as in the case of Aimen, and aerospace parameters and coatings, as seen in the case of CATEC, Spain’s Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies in Seville, which develops additive manufacturing processes, coatings, and testing methods for aerospace applications. Spain is an excellent country for creating new space components. And SWISSto12 can do much to develop Spain’s capacity to manufacture satellite components and terminals using additive manufacturing. Coupled with a lower cost and support from Spanish firms, this looks like it’s another smart move from SWISSto12.
Images courtesy of SWISSto12