DECATUR, Alabama — Switzerland-based Beyond Gravity, a manufacturer of structures for launch vehicles, said Thursday it is adding a new production facility in Decatur to provide additional payload fairings for the United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Alabama-built Vulcan rockets.
Beyond Gravity said it is working with ULA to build the new production facility, which will add 200 workers at the new production site in Morgan County. The new hiring will essentially double the company’s headcount in Alabama.
Beyond Gravity — formerly known as RUAG Space — said the expansion project follows its selection by ULA to supply 38 payload fairings for Vulcan rockets launching satellites as part of Amazon’s Project Kuiper. A fairing is the pointed tip of the rocket that protects the satellites from high temperatures, mechanical stresses and other hazards.
Project Kuiper aims to place a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit to provide affordable high-speed broadband connections around the world.
