ZARM Technik

ZARM Technik AG is a German manufacturer of attitude-control hardware for satellites, based in Bremen. The company was spun out in 1997 from the University of Bremen's Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), the academic institute from which it takes its name and which was itself founded in 1985.

ZARM Technik's two principal product lines are magnetic torquers — electromagnetic actuators that generate a magnetic dipole moment to control a spacecraft's orientation by reacting against the Earth's magnetic field — and magnetometers for measuring that field, supplied as analog fluxgate sensors and digital, radiation-tolerant AMR sensors. The company offers more than 50 torquer designs, ranging from 0.1 to 1,000 Am² in dipole moment, each with flight heritage, and states that its fluxgate magnetometers have accumulated over 450,000 flight hours.

According to the company, more than 250 international satellite missions have carried ZARM Technik hardware, with units continuing to operate reliably after several years in orbit. The company also supplies the electronic control units that drive its torquers and offers mission-specific customization. ZARM Technik holds ISO 9001 certification, works to ESA ECSS standards, and employs around 35 engineers, technicians and scientists.

Magnetorquers are a small but essential item bought by most satellite builders rather than developed in-house, and ZARM Technik is one of a small number of specialist suppliers in this niche, alongside component houses such as NewSpace Systems, already represented in this directory.