Headquartered in Gorizia, Airworks is an independent engineering company. Combining design, engineering, testing and prototyping, they develop technologies for astronomy, space, defense, aerospace and other demanding applications. In the European space industry, Airworks has made a name for itself as a designer and manufacturer of electromechanical systems for the handling, transportation and ground testing of satellites and space payloads. The transportation of satellite components during ground handling is demanding: the manual movements in confined spaces require low starting and rolling resistance of the wheels. Clean room conditions must also be observed. All wheels must be easy to clean and made of approved materials that do not damage the floor surface.

Blickle was selected as the supplier for the wheels to be developed. As Airworks had already had good experience with Blickle products in other applications, contact was quickly established. The wheel and castor specialists found suitable solutions for two specific applications. The first was to make a container developed by Airworks mobile for transporting satellite equipment. Blickle suggested the use of the GB 506/80K heavy-duty wheel for the space transport system called Sarah with a total load of up to 20 tons. It is equipped with the high-quality polyurethane elastomer Blickle-Besthane with a surface hardness of 92 Shore A and a wheel body made of robust gray cast iron.

To assemble the EnMAP satellite spectrometer assembly, Airworks developed a special rotating lifting trolley that can be operated in an ISO5 cleanroom. In order to move it safely, wheels were required that could reliably support a total load of 2,700 kilograms and were equipped with a brake and directional lock. Blickle's LSD-SPO 200K heavy-duty double swivel castor fulfills these requirements. The heavy polyamide wheel body is break-resistant and durable. The double castor with low rolling resistance is wear-resistant. The robust welded steel construction of the housing has a smooth-running axial deep groove ball bearing and a welded-in, secured center bolt for additional stability. The surface of the housing is galvanized and emission-free. Equipped in this way, the container can be ergonomically maneuvered into the desired position and the installation of the satellite components can be made more flexible.