Swales Aerospace
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| Industry | Aerospace and Defense |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Alliant Techsystems |
| Founded | April 17, 1978 |
| Founder | Tom Swales |
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Beltsville, Maryland, United States |
| Website | www.swales.com |
Swales Aerospace was an employee-owned, small business aerospace engineering firm. The company offered a full range of aerospace engineering services. It was the global leader in the development and manufacture of two-phase thermal solutions for spaceflight applications, and it was a small satellite mission provider. In 2007, it was acquired by Alliant Techsystems.
Swales & Associates, Inc., doing business as Swales Aerospace, was an aerospace engineering firm based in Maryland. It was employee-owned through an . Swales did some manufacturing of aerospace-related products, specializing in structural and thermal management systems—ways to control movement and heat in satellites. Facilities were located in Virginia, Florida, Texas, California, and Maryland, home of the Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA accounted for about 75 percent of business. The U.S. Department of Defense was another key customer. The company participated in programs such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station and had begun producing its own small satellites before being acquired by Alliant Techsystems in 2007.
Swales was established in Beltsville, Maryland, on April 17, 1978. Company founder Tom Swales was the first president and CEO. Future CEO Tom Wilson was director of business development. Both Swales and Wilson had structural analysis engineering backgrounds. Ron Luzier, originally senior vice-president and chief engineer, and later chief technology officer, joined Swales and Wilson in founding the company.
The company began with ten employees overall and originally worked from an office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where it provided analysis for the Hubble Space Telescope. After occupying space at the Maryland Federal Savings and Loan Building and the Nationwide Insurance Building in Greenbelt, Maryland, in 1985 Swales moved into a half-floor suite in the Paulen Industrial Center. It eventually expanded into 18 buildings at the site.
Swales set out on an acquisition drive in 1995. Around the same time, it ventured from pure engineering to manufacturing satellite hardware and tools for astronauts, such as a popular power wrench. Revenues exceeded $75 million in 1997. Swales then had 700 employees and was growing quickly. Among other projects, the company was manufacturing components for the International Space Station's thermal control system.
Welch Engineering Ltd. of Pasadena, California, was acquired in December 1998. Welch strengthened Swales's control systems offerings, Tom Wilson told the Washington Business Journal. The Pasadena location was convenient to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Welch also had an office in Rockville, Maryland, and about 40 employees.
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