ATLANTA – The space industry is burgeoning, and it offers opportunities to tribologists and lubrication researchers who want to play a role in humanity’s exploration of the extraterrestrial.
That was the message here last week of a Timken Co. official who gave the keynote address at the annual meeting and exhibition of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. John Renaud, an application engineer with the bearing manufacturer said the business of launching rockets and satellites into space is privatizing and rapidly growing and thirsty for lubes that will keep equipment operating.
In his May 19 speech, Renaud was careful to note that he is not a tribologist but said he has been involved with lubricants in his work with Timken Aerospace and its space-going clients. He rattled off a list of projects he has worked on, from the Europa Clipper space probe to the James Webb and Hubble telescopes, to Mars rovers, the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the still-in-development Orion Spacecraft.
These and other spacecraft and satellites have a long list of robots, machines and other equipment used to get craft into space, to correctly orient and propel them and to conduct the numerous tasks for which they are created. Devices that require lubrication range from solar array drives to positioners for telescopes and other
“Almost everything that needs to move has a roller bearing involved,” Renaud said.
Specific performance requirements vary between applications, but a few general challenges apply to most of the lubes on satellites and spacecraft. They need to withstand extreme high temperatures as well as extreme lows; they need to withstand radiation; and they need to be long-lasting.
“Long bearing life is critical,” Renaud said. “These spacecraft will spend years in orbit with no current practical means of service.” As a result, space lubricants carry hefty price tags, although volumes are low.
The number of objects being put into space is skyrocketing, one could say. Kongsberg counted more than 12,000 active satellites orbiting Earth at the start of the month, and the number is increasing steadily, partly because of the number of private organizations that are launching, partly because costs are rapidly falling.
In the 1990s, Renaud said, it cost around $50,000 per kilogram to launch into space. Today that number has decreased to $2,000/kg, and it is forecast to keep falling to $200/kg.
One audience member asked Renaud where to look for jobs supplying lubricants for space. Satellite and spacecraft operators are one avenue, he said, noting that their numbers are growing fast. Alternatively he suggested working for component suppliers such as Timken, explaining that they get involved with a broader range of spacecraft.