Northwest Aerospace News August | September 2020 | Page 38

Not only does that mean meeting higher production volumes, it means rethinking what it means to send components
into space. Customers like NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory historically have paid top dollar for the highest-standard
equipment that can survive and function for decades of being frozen in the vacuum of space and blasted by radiation.
But now, the customer base is shifting. Many space companies are essentially small-business start-ups that aren’t looking
to go beyond Saturn, but instead are looking to put something into Earth orbit for a few months — or even days. They
would like the robust, reliable products that Crane has historically sold for space flight but are looking for something more
affordable.
To meet them, Mundinger said his teams are looking for potential ways to offer both. And, he said, where deep space mission
planners have favored robust analog systems that could be counted on for the long run, a short-term mission requirement
could allow for new, innovative ways to assure reliability in relatively hazardous space environments.
It’s going to be all about taking Crane’s heritage products and adapting them to the demands of a new set of customers,
Mundinger said.
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