Tuesday December 14, 2021 at 8:30am
Industries are undergoing a state of transformation and disruption across all sectors, and the space industry is no exception. UK-based start-up, Oxford Space Systems, is paving the way for new satellite and antenna technology innovations.
Oxford Space Systems (OSS) is an award-winning space technology business that's pioneering the development of a new generation of deployable antennas and structures that are lighter, less complex, and lower cost than those in current commercial demand.
“The space industry is changing very rapidly from the big bus 6-tonne geostationary orbit satellites to low Earth orbit. Satellites that are maybe the size of a shoebox. It's a revolution in the way the space industry works.” - Sean Sutcliffe, Co-Founder and CEO at Oxford Space Systems.
To infinity and beyond with SOLIDWORKS
In order to validate their concept and begin to consider manufacture and production, Oxford Space Systems began using SOLIDWORKS for conceptual designs, Visualize for modelling, and Simulation to analyse the design in its required conditions, along with PDM for secure, streamlined CAD data management.
"Using SOLIDWORKS allows us to design, build and simulate the deployment of our products." – States Sean.
For Vincent, however, using SOLIDWORKS was a no brainer when it came to choosing a solution that is technically capable of delivering high-end CAD designs as well as seamless integration and communication with various suppliers.
“It's [SOLIDWORKS] is our software of choice as it's affordable and widely used throughout the industry, supporting with compatibility. - Functionality that comes with SOLIDWORKS, the compatibility with other software and the supporting tools such as the PDM." - Vincent Fraux, Co-Founder and Technical Specialist at Oxford Space Systems.
With Success Comes the Demand for Scale
Having completed their conceptual design phase, Oxford Space Systems is now looking forward to the engineering and production phases, with a conscious note on the need for batch production. A shift like this identifies the need for start-ups like OSS to scale up. Using SOLIDWORKS makes scalability simple and seamless.
Support for every step of the journey
The Solid solutions team pride themselves on supporting customers from their very first venture, through to expanding and managing their own supply chain, with Oxford Space Systems, it was no different.
“Solid Solutions has great support, and they're always available. If I have a problem, right now on my workstation and SOLIDWORKS is doing something funny. I just need to call the number, and someone will answer in a few seconds and then they can connect to my machine, have a look and help me solve the problem live, so that's really great.” - Vincent explains.
In addition to software support, Oxford Space Systems have benefited from some expert training sessions led by Solid Solutions, to help up-skill their workforce.
“We have a range of engineers from those who are just starting out their careers through to those who are extremely experienced, so bringing that skill level up by allowing the training whether it's for our own super users or through support is a vital part of personal development for all our engineers.”