What an aerospace drive system has to survive
A motor that holds position perfectly on a bench can drift, stall, or fail once it leaves the ground.
Aerospace drives face vibration, mechanical shock, wide temperature swings, and in space, hard vacuum, and they have to keep their precision through all of it. They also have to be certified, because an unqualified component does not fly. maxon tests its aerospace drives in-house for resistance to vibration, shock, cold, heat, and vacuum, qualifies them against DO-160G environmental conditions, and has held EN 9100 certification, equivalent to AS 9100, since 2012. The same drive that assists a pilot in the cockpit is a different build from the one that turns a satellite mechanism, so motor, gearhead, encoder, and controller are matched to each application rather than pulled from a catalogue.
DNH supplies maxon aerospace drive systems into Southern Africa and works with maxon's dedicated aerospace team to size them to the project
Common challenges
Drives must hold accuracy through vibration, shock, and vacuum.
Unqualified components do not get airborne or into orbit.
Every gram of drive mass eats into payload and endurance.
Flight and space hardware has to work first time, every time.
Products and solutions
maxon is the one partner in the DNH portfolio with drive systems built and certified for flight and space. Gearheads, encoders, and controllers are supplied alongside the motors as part of the same drive system.
Aero brushed and brushless motors, planetary gearheads, encoders, and speed controllers
Aerospace drive systems matched to the application: aircraft control systems, on-board communication and cabin equipment in civil aviation, compact actuators for urban air mobility, UAV propulsion built from brushless DC motors, speed controllers, and propellers, and motor systems for satellites and Mars rovers.
Aviation | Urban Air Mobility | UAV & drones | Space
Proven in the field
Mars rovers
maxon | Space exploration
maxon drive technology has powered Mars rovers on the Red Planet for more than 20 years. The compact DCX Aero brushed motor range is among the technology proven on Mars, where a drive has to hold its precision through launch vibration, deep cold, and the dust and vacuum of the Martian surface. maxon feeds the lessons from those missions back into its serial aerospace production.
maxon SpaceLab
maxon | Space research and commercial spaceflight
Drive systems from maxon SpaceLab are among the most flown in space research and commercial spaceflight, supplied to agencies including NASA, ESA, and JAXA for missions to the Moon, Mars, the Sun, and deep space. maxon set up a dedicated aerospace business unit in 2010 to support programmes at this level.
Long-haul aircraft drives
maxon | Civil aviation
Hundreds of maxon drive systems operate in modern long-haul aircraft, spanning flight control systems, on-board communication, and cabin equipment, built as individual components or as complete technical systems configured for the aircraft. The aerospace range alone offers over 7,000 possible configurations.
EN 9100 certified aerospace range
maxon | Aviation, UAV, and space qualification
maxon has held EN 9100 certification, the aerospace quality standard equivalent to AS 9100, since 2012. Its aerospace drives are qualified against DO-160G environmental conditions and tested in-house for vibration, shock, cold, heat, and vacuum. The standardised range also shortens development cycles so a qualified drive reaches the project faster.
Magnetic Autocontrol at international airports and spaceports
Magnetic Autocontrol | Airport and spaceport ground access
Magnetic Autocontrol vehicle barriers and pedestrian gates secure passenger and vehicle access at major international airports including Frankfurt and Dubai. The same access platforms control vehicle entry at Port Canaveral, the road gateway to one of the busiest spaceports in the United States. DNH supplies the Magnetic Autocontrol range in Southern Africa.
