Airborne has been awarded with no less than four grants from the Netherlands Space Office (NSO) within the ‘Prequalification for ESA programmes’ (PEP-2010) research programme. For three projects Airborne is project coordinator. We see this support from the Dutch national space agency NSO as recognition of our status as established space supplier and our on-going efforts to develop new enabling technologies.

One project focuses on developing thermal conductive composite structural panels. In current designs for space satellites, aluminium sandwich panels are still used as primary structure. Composites offer a better performance in weight, but currently have very limited thermal conductivity. This conductivity is needed to distribute the thermal power generated inside of the satellite to the outside space environment. The goal of the project is to remove this barrier and to make the composite structure thermally conductive by using different materials and design concepts. In this project we work together with AOES, an engineering firm specialised in space applications, and NLR, the National Space Laboratory.

Another grant is for the CAMPES project: Cost-effective and Automated Manufacturing Process for Engine frames and Solar array panels. Together with the NLR and Dutch Space, we will work on automated tape laying and smart assembly technologies to improve the cost-efficiency for space structures.

The other two projects focus on highly loaded RTM parts for launcher structures, and co-curing of solar array sandwich panels.

For more information, feel free to contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , CTO and Managing Director of the Airborne Technology Centre.