SpaceX continues to expand its vertical integration. The company acquired a parachute company that supplied parachutes for its Dragon capsules for $2.2 million.
Elon Musk’s space company strives to independently produce components for its rockets. Recently, SpaceX took advantage of the situation and acquired the company that produced parachutes for it. Earlier this month, Pioneer Aerospace was acquired after its parent company went bankrupt, according to TechCrunch. The purchase price was $2.2 million, according to the bankruptcy filing of Pioneer’s parent company.
Pioneer supplies drogue parachutes for SpaceX’s Dragon capsules. This is a line of spacecraft that NASA uses to transport cargo and astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Drogue parachutes are very complex components. They are designed for high speed and deploy to stabilize the spacecraft and slow it down. The two drogues deploy when the Dragon is at 18,000 feet and traveling at about 350 mph, according to NASA. The main chutes, which are supplied by Airborne Systems, deploy later during reentry, at an altitude of about 6,000 feet.
The purchase was a mutually beneficial deal. If Pioneer Aerospace were to disband, SpaceX would not be able to receive parachutes on time, which would slow down its development. The production of such parachutes is a difficult task because they incorporate a very complex mechanism.
“Space is hard, but space parachutes are much harder,” Abhi Tripathi, director of mission operations at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, said in a recent interview. “It’s pretty much among the hardest things, other than a very complex propulsion system, to make.” Tripathi’s career includes 10 years at SpaceX, where he was director of Dragon missions and director of flight reliability for the Dragon capsule, and nearly 10 years at NASA, where he served as lead aerospace systems engineer.
The knowledge and ability to produce such technically complex products in low volumes is difficult to replicate quickly. SpaceX took an active part in their development and thoroughly tested the parachutes themselves. However, the company eventually began to look outside for production opportunities.
