One part of GKN Aerospace is working, as familiar, within the space industry in the European space program Ariane. Ariane is a European series of rockets for launch of primarily satellites. The active rocket today is Ariane 5 where GKN manufactures exhaust nozzle and turbines for the first-stage engine, Vulcain 2. Right now the development of the next generation, Ariane 6, is in full progress here at the company since Ariane 6 soon will be launched and GKN will be even more involved in multiple parts, but more on that topic another time.

Why do we think that it is so important to work within the space industry here in Trollhättan and Sweden? Why should we to send up even more rockets into space? Where does space begin? How powerfull is a rocket engine? Is it really “rocket science” ?? There are many questions, but the answers are even more interesting!

Space is, at least for me, a very vague expression. Where does space begin? Actually, space is not that far away, it is enough to go about 100 km straight up to be in space. That means if you drive in a normal car, it takes about an hour to reach space! But it is actually not that easy. However, if we want to go further away, like to the moon, we have to run several months in the car, the moon is about 384,400 km away and the sun is 150 million km away (crazy far away).

But why don’t we take the car or an airplane up in space? It is because both the car and the jet engine in the airplane are dependent on air, which means that a different type of engine must be used for a space rocket. The rocket engine combusts hydrogen and oxygen where the exhaust from the engine has a very high speed and will thereby send the rocket with an equally strong force in the opposite direction, according to Newton’s third law. During a launch, it takes enormous amounts of fuel (175 tons or 500 000 liters), which all is stored inside the rocket. The rocket has a total weight of 700 tons, when launched from Earth. When the first stage engine, Vulcain 2 in this case, has started and everything looks good, the booster engines at the sides will be started as well. After about 50 km (halfway to space) these boosters are released and will be landing in the sea and picked up by boat, and the rocket continues into space with the power from Vulcain 2. When the rocket is in space, after 100 km, the satellites are no longer exposed to the same environmental stresses and the protective covers are now able to be released to save weight, which is of highest interest to minimize fuel consumption. After more than 150 km is the first-stage engine, including the “fuel tank”, released and the second stage engine is now used for last leg before the satellite reaches its orbit and exact position. After about 35 minutes of flight only the payloads, the satellites, remains which has a total weight of about 7 tons. This corresponds to 1% of the total weight of the rocket as it leaves the earth. 1% payload. Even here it is possible to imagine the challenges of developing a rocket and all its components. 1% margin of error is very little, and this is impossible – a miscalculation of 1% would surely mean that there is no room at all for the actual payload. Maybe it is, among other things, this called rocket science?

Here is a video of a launch of a Ariane 5:

https://youtu.be/cFbxa_HgRIs

Why are we so willing to invest so much money, energy and time on developing those rockets? Think about how many times each day you are using a satellite. Perhaps, you are using a mobile phone with all the features; checking social media, reading the magazine online, checking the weather – all of this is directly dependent on satellites and its function.

But you are using the satellite services even when you are looking at the news on the TV, using the GPS function while driving or paying with a debit card at the grocery store, or when you want to see real-time on the buses in the app (in your mobile, which uses the Internet ) … Well, I think you get it. Space is simply incredibly cool! Obviously, we have to continue working with it and develop the future! What would we do without our lovely satellites?

Preparing for the Future of GKN Aerospace Engine Systems (AES)

As part of my role at GKN, I am frequently in a position to discuss with investors, analysts, customers and our GKN teammates what I find to be exciting about our company, both today and in the future. I often speak of the great products that we make, the complex technologies that we employ and the interesting markets that we service in Aviation, Space & Defense. As many who have spent time with me know, I am somewhat passionate about our business and the impact that we make around the world; whether it is supporting the launching of satellites, enabling commercial aircraft to transport the world’s population or providing solutions to the military services for the protection of our citizens. In the end of these discussions, I always find myself coming back to most important thing that makes us successful – our people.

As we at Engine Systems look to the future, we put a great deal of effort in creating a long term investment strategy that will enable us to sustain and grow our market leadership position by providing:

• future technologies like advanced metallic & composite materials, fabrication and additive manufacturing techniques, high deposition rate composite material delivery, alternative composite structure forming techniques;
• product solutions that are aligned with our customers market strategies and that leverage our unique capabilities;
• modern facilities, globally distributed, to meet the needs of our customers and the challenging competitive environment in which we work;
• partnership investments on key aircraft platforms and engine solutions.

What may not be so apparent is the work that we are doing to identify initiatives and investments focused on making our company a business that will be an exciting place to work for future generations.

Although GKN is entering our 257^th year in business, most people around the world are not familiar with us and what we do. Over the last several years, GKN, in particular, our Aerospace Division, has focused on our branding to make our company more visible in the regions and markets where we operate. We have become more active in the press, social media, trade publications, Aerospace business organizations and at many educational institutions. It is important that the current and next generation of future employees know of our company and the exciting things that we do so that we can continue to attract the best people.

In addition to improving our ability to find new talent, we must also have a safe, positive work environment fostering personal and professional growth such that our employees want to continue to stay in our business for their careers. Key initiatives and investments in this area are focused on:

• protecting the safety of our people and driving toward an even more proactive safety awareness culture;
• introducing the Gallup 12 tool and process to improve employee engagement across all of our facilities;
• more effectively leveraging ethnic and gender diversity throughout all levels of the organization and ensuring that we provide a work environment where all of our employees feel valued and included;
• clearly communicating and ensuring understanding of our company values such that we all “do the right thing” in all of our business endeavors;
• sustaining and expanding our apprenticeship, internship and young graduate programs;
• engaging in new ways with our next generation employees such as the “Future Thinking” initiative.

More so than ever, I see a very bright future for Engine Systems and GKN Aerospace. Together we are making it happen, each and every day.