Hybrid, large-format additive tooling: Lighter, faster, less costly molds for big parts
Additively manufactured cores, CFRP face skins produce large tools for prototype, low-volume aerostructure parts.
Peggy Malnati
Contributing Writer
Northrop Grumman completes rocket motor validation test for Vulcan Centaur
The 63-inch-diameter graphite epoxy motor (GEM 63XL) was developed in partnership with United Launch Alliance to provide the rocket with additional lift capability.
People in Composites: December 2020
CW’s December people roundup include new appointees for Cincinnati Inc., Polygon Composites, Exel Composites, Vectorply, Northrop Grumman and more.
Environmental testing completed for NASA James Webb telescope
Successful acoustic and sine-vibration testing ensures the composites-intensive space telescope will survive all of the harsh conditions associated with a rocket launch to space.
Episode 33: Ethan Escowitz, Arris Composites
CW Talks checks in with Ethan Escowitz, co-founder and CEO of Arris Composites, to learn about the Additive Molding technology his company has developed.
NASA announces new James Webb Space Telescope target launch date
The observatory is expected to launch Oct. 31, 2021, a change resulting from technical challenges and the impact of the pandemic.
NASA rocket motors arrive at Kennedy Space Center for Artemis program
The rocket motors are the next step toward NASA’s Artemis I space launch in 2021.
Boron fiber: The original high-performance fiber
History and future developments for high-performance boron fiber.
Northrop Grumman awarded first crew module contract
The HALO module design is adapted from the Cygnus spacecraft designed by Northrop Grumman, and will serve as both crew habitat and docking hub for cislunar spacecraft.
Successful tower extension test for James Webb space telescope
The test ensured the tower extensions on NASA’s composites-intensive telescope would keep the structure cool enough to detect infrared light.
The markets: Aerospace (2020)
Despite the 737 MAX groundings, several new programs on the horizon portend increasing use of composites in commercial aerostructures for several decades.
People in Composites: November 2019
Albany Engineered Composites, GKN Aerospace, Michelman and Sirrus Inc. announce new hires in the composites manufacturing industry.
Composites 2020: A Multitude of Markets
The manufacturing world likes to think of composites fabrication as a single, global entity that operates to serve its customers’ needs with a variety of highly engineered parts and structures.
Blue Origin to team up with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper on lunar lander
Proposed lunar landing system to be considered for NASA’s Artemis program, which seeks to return humans to the moon by 2024.
Reading tea leaves: The outlook for aerospace
The coronavirus pandemic promises to wreak havoc on the aerospace composites supply chain, but it’s not too soon to start thinking about how a post-pandemic commercial aerospace market will evolve.
Jeff Sloan
Editor-in-Chief, CompositesWorld
California high school adds composites fabrication to curriculum
A STEM academy recently opened the doors to a brand-new composites fabrication lab, to prepare students for the local aerospace workforce after graduation.
NASA assembles James Webb Telescope
NASA has successfully connected the two halves — the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) and the Space Craft Element (SCE) — of the composites intensive James Webb Telescope for the first time, marking a major milestone for the program.
Merger mania, part II?
Columnist Dale Brosius considers the surges of company mergers that have affected the composites industry over the years.
Highlights: Composites Convention 2019
Highlights from the Composites Convention 2019, June 12-13, in Stade, Germany, organized by CFK Valley e.V. and Carbon Composites e.V, and the German Aerospace Center’s 5th Colloquium on Production Technology, on May 15, in Augsburg.
NASA funds Made In Space project to 3D print spacecraft components in orbit
Made In Space’s Archinaut One spacecraft will demonstrate the ability to manufacture and assemble spacecraft components in low-Earth orbit.
Orion spacecraft completes launch abort tests
The successful test of the composites-intensive abort system moves NASA’s Orion crew capsule a step further toward travel to the Moon and beyond.
Composites in the race to space
Advanced materials use in current and upcoming NASA missions.
Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld
2019 Paris Air Show: Highlights
The 2019 Paris Air Show may have lacked the glamour of a new aircraft program announcement, but the composites industry represented is clearly gearing up for next-generation aerospace manufacturing.
Large, high-volume, infused composite structures on the aerospace horizon
Infused carbon fiber composite structures are not new, but they have never been built at the rates anticipated for next-generation, single-aisle aircraft. It is a daunting prospect — but a feasible one.
NASA selects American companies for lunar landers, propulsion element
NASA has announced the companies that will conduct research and build prototypes, and build the PPE spacecraft for its Artemis missions.
Composites industry leaders recognized at SME's AeroDef 2019
SME recently recognized Douglas D. Decker, technical fellow, Northrop Grumman and two prominent composites manufacturing companies with the 2019 Composites Manufacturing Awards.
Space: The next frontier and battleground
CW Editor-in-Chief Jeff Sloan reflects on the goals outlined leaders for space travel at the 35th Space Symposium – exploration, commercial travel and military defense among them – and the role of composites in the vehicles under development to reach them.
35th Space Symposium puts emphasis on collaboration, U.S. leadership in space
High-profile speakers at the 35th Space Symposium emphasized the need to increase collaboration with commercial entities and foreign partners to maintain U.S. dominance in space.