The Chinese Tianwen-1 Mars mission carried special space-appropriate single- and dual-channel X-band rotary joints from SPINNER on board. Following its launch on July 23, 2020, it became the first Chinese spacecraft to go into orbit around the red planet on February 10, 2021.
Rotary joints from SPINNER are making a crucial contribution to driving technological advances and enabling precise communication in outer space. Satellites, for example, would be virtually worthless without nonstop communication links to ground stations.
The antennas of satellites must be constantly aligned with ground stations, an application for which rotary joints are indispensable. Outer space is probably one of the harshest environments in which our products are used, and our rotary joints must meet the strictest imaginable requirements in terms of reliability, precision, and quality. Extreme temperature fluctuations in orbit subject materials to enormous stresses.
