VIDEO: Rock West's growth in the space sector

At CAMX 2024, Scott Francis, editor-in-chief of CompositesWorld, spoke with Tom Preece, chief strategy officer at Rock West Composites (San Diego, Calif., U.S.). 

Preece explained Rock West’s broad range of offerings, from complex, tight-tolerance space structures to more commercial, cost-effective products. 

Recently, the company has experienced rapid growth in the space sector, with its products being used in satellite assemblies and lunar lander components.

“Space in particular is a very quickly growing segment for us,” explains Preece. “It’s the fastest growing business segment of all the business that we do and requires a lot of expertise in various types of space structures, solar array substrates, bus structures, etc., so a lot of complicated tight-tolerance structures. But, we're also very commercial focused. We do a lot of work that’s lower cost, less expensive for the masses, a lot of diversity in the business. 

“Rock West specializes in multiple manufacturing processes, including filament winding, resonant fusion, compression molding and prepackaged layup, and also provides engineering and technical support to product development, including design optimization, material selection and prototyping services.”