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Aerospace

Reaching for the Stars

As the United States began its foray into space, RS&H walked hand-in-hand and supported every NASA launch since the Apollo missions and numerous U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) missions.

Fast forward to today, built upon a rich history of successful projects, RS&H focuses on designing innovative and resilient infrastructure and buildings for public and commercial space missions that continue to inspire humanity and unravel the mysteries of the universe.

At RS&H, our integrated teams specialize in engineering, architectural design, analysis, planning, construction management, testing, and activation support. Our experience covers a variety of critical infrastructure needs for satellites, cryogenic and unique propellants, clear rooms, secure facilities, and vehicles, from small missiles, human space flight vehicles, on orbit habitats, up to colossal rockets like the Space Launch System (SLS) to be used in the Artemis mission to return to the moon.

RS&H is ready to partner with you to help achieve your goals.

Projects

Focus Areas & Services

Insights

Aerospace Projects

View Aerospace Projects

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NASA Asteroid Curation Facility

As a valued partner with NASA since the 1960s, RS&H started the project with a contract for HVAC repairs, which blossomed into laboratory repairs, laboratory design, and a master plan that would consolidate the ARES division from six buildings down to two.

AerospaceScience

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SLS Mobile Launcher & Launch Tower

NASA Kennedy Space Center entrusted RS&H to vet the feasibility of and design modifications to the Space Launch System (SLS) Mobile Launcher. The 355-foot-tall mobile launcher is designed to support the assembly, testing, check out, and servicing of NASA’s SLS rockets, as well as transfer the rockets to the pad.

Aerospace

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NASA Launch Control Center Firing Rooms Renovation

RS&H studied and designed renovations to the Kennedy Space Center Launch Control Center Firing Rooms, where launch operations are supervised and controlled. Maintaining operations during construction was also essential, as several shuttle launches took place during the renovation.

Aerospace

Exterior of control room at Kennedy Space Center.

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Orion Spacecraft Shaker Support Stand

RS&H designed a shaker support stand for the Orion random vibration shaker test. The design incorporates a heavy duty commercially available gantry crane as the primary shaker support stand structure.

Aerospace

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Spaceport America Master Plan

Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. The FAA-licensed launch complex is situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.

AerospaceAviation

Focus Areas & Services

Spaceport Planning & Licensing

Whether your planned spaceport is a green field site or the evolution of an existing airport/launch site, RS&H can help turn your concept into reality. New suborbital, vertically, and horizontally launched spacecraft enable suborbital adventure tourism and may soon provide point-to-point rapid transportation of goods and passengers. New orbital spacecraft, launchers, and on-orbit systems are driving a new renaissance in low Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond. Our teams can guide communities, states, private entities, national governments, and/or airport officials through the process of becoming a licensed Federal Aviation Administration spaceport and generating long-term market demand-centric infrastructure and organizational master plans. We support spaceport development for state and federal space agencies, space entrepreneurs, large defense contractors, and forward-thinking municipalities and aviation authorities.

Launch Facilities & Infrastructure

For over 50 years, RS&H’s clients have entrusted us with designing and modifying launch sites and ground support systems that are reliable, efficient, affordable, and ready for the first launch. We fully understand the requirements of all specialty launch pad systems, such as flame diverters, lightning protection systems, water deluge systems, gantries, crew emergency egress systems, propellant tankage, environmental analysis, and environmentally sensitive lighting solutions. Our professionals have experience working on space launch facilities through civil, commercial, and military programs.

Ground Support Equipment

RS&H delivers cost-efficient, robust, and reliable solutions for all your ground support equipment and testing needs, including propulsion test stands, lifting fixtures, cryogenic and hypergolic fluids, and high-pressure gas distribution/control systems, stabilizer arms, fueling systems, and crew escape systems. We have provided countless designs that interface with satellites, space stations, human spacecraft, launch vehicles, and critical flight hardware. Our engineering analysis capabilities include static, dynamic, and random vibration stress analyses, as well as thermal, computational fluid dynamics, motion simulation, hazard and safety, and cost analyses.

Manufacturing, Processing, & Assembly Buildings

Assembly, integration, processing, and test buildings present special planning, design, and operation challenges. Our experience shows RS&H teams know how to collectively roll up our sleeves to develop operationally efficient buildings to support critical launch and space operations functions, including unique facilities for hazardous payload processing, clean rooms, SCIFs, control/operations centers, astronaut training, biological sample processing, and many others.

Explore Resources

insight

Mental Health in the AEC – Sympathy vs Empathy

July 18, 2023By Holly Tishfield

It starts with understanding the difference between sympathy and empathy and recognizing how these concepts can foster meaningful connections.

TransportationAviationAerospace

insight

[Webinar] Live Your Life Well: Mental Health Awareness in the AEC Industry Panel Discussion

May 5, 2023By Tom Everett

Mental health well-being is key for a healthy and productive workforce, yet each year nearly 1 in 5 American adults experience a mental health disorder that impacts them at home and work.

TransportationAviationAerospace

insight

Climate Action Needed – “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”

April 17, 2023By Linnea Brudenell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Holding the AEC Industry Accountable to Combat Climate Change.

TransportationAviationAerospaceCorporate

An Exceptional Journey Starts at RS&H

Welcome to RS&H, where excellence has been our tradition since 1941. For over eight decades, we have set the standard in meeting the ever-changing needs of our clients and communities. Contact us to start your journey.