On 6 February 2009, the first North American ALMA telescope is accepted at the Joint ALMA Observatory.  The 12-meter-diameter antenna is the first of twenty-five being provided by North America’s ALMA partners, whose efforts are led by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).

Airborne Composites manufactures the carbon fiber composite structures for these antennas, under a 6 year contract for Vertex Antennentechnik of Duisburg, Germany. Airborne supplies the reflector Back-Up Structure  (BUS) that consists of 24 segments, the center hub that connects the segments, the Quadrapod truss structure that supports the sub-reflector and the head-part that connects the 4 quadrapod legs. The structure consists of carbon fiber - aluminum honeycomb sandwich, made from high stiffness pitch carbon fiber. The design is optimised for stiffness and thermal stability, with a ultra-low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). This ensures that the high precision of the reflector surface is kept under all wind and temperature conditions.

Already 10 antennas have been supplied by Airborne to Vertex Antennentechnik, with a production rate of 1 antenna per 5 weeks. This high production rate is achieved by a dedicated production line, a fully industrialised production process with optimised tooling concepts, and thorough quality assurance procedures. The project is supported by the Investment for Growth programme of Airborne with recent installation of 2 prepreg cutting machines, Fibersim software, laser projection and a 5-axis milling machine of 7 x 3.5 m.

Official press release by ALMA on http://almaobservatory.org/index.php?option=com content&task=view&id=140&itemid=56

About ALMA.

ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is a gathering armada of short-wavelength radio telescopes whose combined power will enable astronomers to probe with unprecedented sharpness phenomena and regions that are beyond the reach of visible-light telescopes. The observatory is being assembled high in the Chilean Andes by a global partnership between East Asia, Europe and North America in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.

ALMA will be the leading astronomical instrument for observing the cool Universe – the molecular gas and dust that constitute the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies, and of life itself. It will operate at wavelengths of 0.3 to 9.6 mm. At these wavelengths, a high, dry site is needed for the telescope to be able to see through the Earth’s atmosphere. This is why ALMA is being built on the 5000 m high plateau of Chajnantor in the Atacama region of Chile. ALMA will offer unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. The 12-meter antennas will have reconfigurable baselines ranging from 15 m to 16 km. Resolutions as fine as 0.005 arcseconds will be achieved at the shortest wavelengths – a factor of ten better than the Hubble Space Telescope.

About Airborne Composites

Airborne Composites specialises in the development and production of advanced composite products. The company has two sites: one in The Hague, The Netherlands and one in Girona, Spain. It is part of the Airborne group, which also includes Airborne Composite Tubulars that develops and manufactures thermoplastic composite tubulars for the oil & gas industry, and the Airborne Technology Center for the development of new composite technologies.

The philosophy of the company is to capture the whole product life cycle:

• Technology Research and Development rn
• Product design engineering rn
• Process engineering rn
• Qualification rn
• Production rn
• Maintenance and repair

This enables Airborne to turn innovative know-how into industrialised production of composite products, and to capture this experience to initiate and guide the development of new technologies. This Innovation Circle is the essence of our company.

Airborne Composites has three main lines of business: solar array substrates, antennas and composite components for high performance machines. Airborne Composites is also active in markets such as aeronautics, marine and energy.

Press Contact
Airborne Composites the Netherlands

Marcus Kremers, Tel.: +31 70 3017400, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Marijke van Santen, Tel.: +31 70 3017400, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Press rlease in PDF.