Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA (the space agency of the United States) and was the U.S.'s first space station.

Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of 169,950 pounds (77 t). Three manned missions to the station, conducted between 1973 and 1974 using the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) atop the smaller Saturn IB, each delivered a three-astronaut crew. On the third mission, an additional Apollo / Saturn IB stood by, ready for launch if needed to rescue the crew in orbit.

Skylab included an Apollo Telescope Mount (a multi-spectral solar observatory), Multiple Docking Adapter with two docking ports, Airlock Module with EVA hatches, and the Orbital Workshop, the main habitable volume of the station. Power came from solar arrays, as well as fuel cells in the docked Apollo CSM. The rear of the station included a large waste tank, propellant tanks for maneuvering jets, and a heat radiator.

The station was damaged at launch when the micrometeoroid shield separated from the station and tore away, depriving the station of most of its power, removing protection from intense solar heating, and threatening to make the station unusable. The first crew was able to save it in the first ever in-space major repair, by deploying a replacement heat shade and freeing the single remaining, jammed main solar array.

Numerous scientific experiments were conducted aboard Skylab during its operational life, and crews were able to confirm the existence of coronal holes in the Sun. The Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP), was used to view the Earth with sensors that recorded data in the visible, infrared, and microwave spectral regions. Thousands of photographs of Earth were taken, and records for human time spent in orbit were extended.

Plans were made to refurbish and reuse Skylab, using the Space Shuttle to boost its orbit and repair it. However, development of the Shuttle was delayed, and Skylab reentered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated in 1979, with debris striking portions of Western Australia.

The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. It is the largest center of NASA.

MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program. Marshall is today the agency's lead center for Space Shuttle propulsion and its external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS) design and assembly; and computers, networks, and information management. Located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, MSFC is named in honor of General of the Army George Marshall.

The center also contains the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC), a facility that supports Space Shuttle launch, payload and experiment activities at the Kennedy Space Center, ISS launch and experiment operations. The HOSC also monitors rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station when a Marshall Center payload is on board.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipments manufacturing company headquartered inTokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group.

Mitsubishi Electric manufacture electric and architectural equipment. It is as well as a major worldwide producer of photovoltaic panels. The Corporation was established on 15 January 1921.

Mitsubishi Electric's space technology includes the production and implementation of satellites, satellite components, and ground systems. Also, Mitsubishi Electric is the only company in Japan that can manufacture satellites from designing to assembling and testing. Mitsubishi Electric own satellite production facilities including a space chamber, antenna test range, acoustic chamber, and vibration table. As well Mitsubishi Electric excel in the solar array panel, heat pipe panel, Li-ion battery, and ground station system technologies that make satellites practical to own and operate.

Snecma S.A. is a French multinational aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer.

Alone or in partnership, Snecma designs, develops, produces and markets engines for civil and military aircraft, launch vehicles and satellites. The company also offers a complete range of engine support services to airlines, armed forces and other operators. Snecma is a subsidiary of the SAFRAN Group.

Haigh-Farr provides the space industry with antennas for launch telemetry, tracking and flight termination, as well as operational communications with research, defense and communication spacecraft.

Haigh-Farr was established in 1969 as a consulting, research, development and manufacturing company, with expertise in the area of antennas and RF propagation for aerospace vehicles. Haigh-Farr pioneered the Wraparound™ antenna concept whose versatility and compactness have enhanced performance capabilities of aircraft, missiles and spacecraft worldwide.

Dragon is a partially reusable spacecraft developed by the company SpaceX.

Dragon is launched into space by the SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. During its uncrewed maiden flight in December 2010, Dragon became the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered successfully from orbit. On 25 May 2012, an uncrewed variant of Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and be attached to the International Space Station (ISS).

Reliable System Services Corp. provides solutions in areas of Wireless Data Links, System Design, Hardware Design, System Integration and Link/Network Management Software.

RSS has developed a portfolio of technical projects and products, from complete turnkey systems to custom box-level products. RSS has provided customized technical solutions as a prime contractor. It was founded in 1986 with the goal of providing custom technical solutions to the DoD. 

Safran S.A. is a French multinational aircraft & rocket engine, aerospace component and security company.

It was formed by a merger between the aircraft & rocket engine manufacturer and aerospace component manufacturer group SNECMA and the security company SAGEM in 2005. Its headquarters are located in Paris.

SAFRAN Pyroalliance is a European producer of energetic equipment: design, production and marketing of a wide range of equipment to meet the demanding specifications of aerospace, defense and industry. These energetic equipments perform a number of critical functions, including launch, propulsion, flight control and range safety.

SAFRAN Pyroalliance is a subsidiary of Herakles (Safran group).

It has built up expertise in the technologies needed to convert energy from an energetic material (grain, propellant, explosive) into a function or combination of functions. These functions generally involve a mechanical action (push, pull, inflate, cut, release, etc.), or the transmission of a command (ignite, separate, supply a fluid, generate a gas or thrust). A complete function can be performed by coupling different assemblies (ignition and safety, command transmission, terminal functions such as ignition or a mechanical action).

Pyrotechnic technologies offer a number of advantages over conventional electromechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic systems:

• Significant energy developed in a controlled time (from less than a millisecond to several seconds).
• Low triggering energy (mechanical or electric).
• Smaller and lighter.
• Very high reliability, security and availability.
• Little or no maintenance over lifetime.
• Operating time compatible with need for simultaneous or synchronized requirements.
• Robust resistance to external hazards (vibration, shock, electrostatic discharge, electromagnetic, thermal, etc.).

Shapes Aerospace specializes in fabrication and machining of complex, high precision component parts, assemblies and tooling for aerospace, aircraft, turbine, medical and defense: from miniature parts for satellites and missiles, to mid-size components for aircraft engine and ground turbine applications to large assemblies and tooling for composites and aerospace ground support.