Spaceium is building orbital servicing spacecraft to refuel and repair satellites in space. Designing, testing, and certifying space hardware in a matter of months is a monumental challenge—especially with a tight launch schedule and no room for delays.
With just three engineers, Spaceium faced the task of moving fast enough to design, iterate, and deliver flight-ready hardware under intense time pressure.
To succeed, they partnered with Drafter to streamline their hardware development and eliminate bottlenecks in creating 2D manufacturing drawings.
The Challenge
Every part heading to space needs a precise 2D drawing for manufacturing. But manually creating those drawings was slowing them down—threatening to derail their schedule.
“Drawings are a pain… It’s the worst part of my job, and it takes so much time.”
The Solution
By integrating Drafter into their workflow, Spaceium offloaded the most tedious step in hardware documentation. Instead of spending hours or days creating drawings, engineers could upload parts and receive manufacturing-ready drawings in minutes—keeping pace with their rapid testing cycles.
“Drafter is really fast. It helps us move at the speed we need."
The Outcome
Drafter helped Spaceium maintain velocity, iterate quickly, and avoid costly errors, all while staying on track for their ambitious launch deadline.
Drawings were accepted with minimal feedback—even under tight tolerances and fast-turn manufacturing.
“I’ve made the mistake of putting the wrong tolerances on parts before. Drafter helped us avoid that happening again.”
One unexpected benefit? Drafter’s Slack-based feedback and customer support made reviewing and redlining drawings seamless, even on the go.
“It’s the best thing ever. I don’t even have to be at my desk.”
Thanks to Drafter, Spaceium now operates with the agility of a much larger team—without expanding headcount or sacrificing quality.
“I’ve talked about Drafter a thousand times. It’s made my job a lot easier.”
Key Takeaways for Hardware Teams
Create drawings 96% faster, save time and money
Clear, standardized drawings, AMSE Y14.5-2018 compliant
Accurate GD&T means less drawing errors and less headache
