SpaceX is getting to be a name as identifiable as NASA. Ever since government funding was cut for NASA, SpaceX has been in the forefront of space exploration. It has already developed expendable rockets able to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and are most likely going to provide satellite launch services, passenger tourist flights and cargo delivery to orbit sooner than you think.
“SpaceX is like Special Forces…we do the missions that others think are impossible,” noted Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO & Chief Designer. “We have goals that are absurdly ambitious by any reasonable standard, but we’re going to make them happen. We have the potential here at SpaceX to have an incredible effect on the future of humanity and life itself.”
The same goes for Schweiss Doors, a 35-year-old company that specializes in large custom-made doors that many other companies wouldn’t dare to make.
Schweiss has built large doors installed at various SpaceX locations going back to 2008 for Cape Canaveral, Waco, Texas, and Vandenberg AFB in California, and they keep coming back for more, Schweiss officials noted.
Doors required by SpaceX are not your run-of-the-mill doors — there are a lot of specialized things associated with these doors that Schweiss Doors has to conform with.
SpaceX’s latest orders just left the Schweiss Doors factory and will soon be installed on a new steel hangar at Cape Canaveral.
The largest of the two is a Bifold Liftstrap door 90 feet wide x 61 feet tall. The second door in that shipment is 40 feet wide x 69 feet tall. Each of the doors is equipped with automatic latches and are windrated to 150 mph.
After they arrive at the site they will be clad in 26 gauge sheeting and have 4-inch blanket insulation. Bottom-drive 480 volt, 3 phase motors and patented Schweiss liftstraps will do the lifting of these doors that exceed 46,700 pounds.