Sounding rocket guidance systems

Sounding Rockets

More than 40 years of experience in guidance, navigation and control of sounding rockets with peak altitudes in the range of 100-1000 km and more.

Albert Thuswaldner
Albert Thuswaldner Program Manager Suborbital

Beyond Gravity's sounding rocket and guidance experience dates back to 1968 and includes nearly 300 successful rocket launches. The company's guidance systems for sounding rockets are highly acclaimed and frequently used in various European and American programs. We customize our flight-proven systems to your application, ensuring precise trajectories and small impact areas for your payload.

Guidance systems are used to control rockets that re-enter the atmosphere after a completed scientific mission together with their separated payload. The main task of the guidance system is thus to keep the rocket and its payload within the boundary lines of the rocket range in which it is deployed. They use aerodynamic control surfaces (canards), cold gasor control the trust vector of the rocket motor to achive thier goals

"Our experience in sounding rockets and guidance dates back to 1968, and covers almost 280 successful rocket launches."

Albert Thuswaldner
Albert Thuswaldner Program Manager Suborbital

S19 guidance system family.

Beyond Gravity has developed four generations of S19-type systems, starting with an analog system and adding a digital system around 1990. The latest generation is called S19E and uses ring laser gyros and powerful electrical servos for high performace and precise control. It is currently designed for guidance, navigation and control of sounding rockets with a diameter of 17.26 inches and a peak altitude of 300 to 500 km. Of course, it can be adapted to other types of rockets.

GCS guidance systems family.

The GCS family of guidance systems builds on the latest guidance technology to control the thrust vector actuator to deflect the rocket nozzle. The same method is used on launch vehicles such as Ariane, Atlas, Vulcan and others.

Cold gas guidance systems family.

The third family of guidance systems utilizes a pressurised cold gas system as actuator for the control of payloads and rockets beyond the eaths atmosphere. SPINRAC is a specialized guidance system that in a clever way utilzes the spining motion of the rocet to achive precise guidance with a minium consuption of cold gas. A full RACS system with 3-axis control is built on the same tecnology to accuratly point a payload into a certain direction to enable maxium observation time.