SpaceX is getting to be a name as identifiable as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was. Ever since government funding was cut for NASA, SpaceX has been in the forefront of space exploration. They have already developed expendable rockets able to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and are most likely going to provide satellite launch services, passenger tourist flights and cargo delivery to orbit sooner than you think.
“SpaceX is like Special Forces… we do the missions that others think are impossible. We have goals that are absurdly ambitious by any reasonable standard, but we’re going to make them happen. We have the potential here at SpaceX to have an incredible effect on the future of humanity and life itself,” noted Elon Musk – SpaceX CEO and chief designer.
The same goes for Schweiss Doors, an established 35-year-old company that specializes in large custom-made doors that many other companies wouldn’t dare to make. Schweiss doors destined for SpaceX locations is nothing new. Schweiss has built large doors installed at various SpaceX locations going back to 2008 for Cape Canaveral, Waco, Texas and Vandenberg AFB in California, and they keep coming back for more.
According the Schweiss the doors required by SpaceX are not your run-of-the-mill doors; they say there are a lot of specialized things associated with the doors that Schweiss Doors has to conform with.
Their latest orders just left the Schweiss Doors factory. They will soon be installed on a new steel hangar at Cape Canaveral. The largest of the two is a Bifold Liftstrap door 90 ft. wide x 61 ft. tall. The second door on that shipment is 40 ft. wide x 69 ft. tall. Each of the doors is equipped with automatic latches and are windrated to 150 mph. After they arrive at the site they will be clad in 26 gauge sheeting and have 4-inch blanket insulation. Bottom-drive 480 volt, 3 phase motors and patented Schweiss liftstraps will do the lifting of these doors that exceed 46,700 lbs.
SpaceX maintains launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and Boca Chica, Texas. Each location offers key benefits to support our customers’ missions. SpaceX tests its engines and structures at a 4,000-acre state-of-the-art rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas.
SpaceX or Space Exploration Technologies Corporation is a space transport company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. Their launch manifest is populated by a diverse customer base; including space station resupply missions, commercial satellite launch missions, and US government science and national security missions.
Cape Canaveral on the southeast coast of Florida provides access to a wide range of low and medium inclination orbits frequently used by communications and Earth-observing satellites and by supply missions to the International Space Station. The site also allows access to geostationary orbits, as well as departures to the Moon and interplanetary destinations.