Aerospace News Archive
News items about composites and their use in aerospace applications. ASUSat
Student satellite program. These are small-sats, many with composite structures. See, for example, the Design section of the ASUSat1 page.
Composite Materials for Cryogenic Fuel Tanks
Press release from NASA about composite hydrogen tanks for the Delta Clipper. This news has probably been superseded by the tanks for Lockheed Martin's X-33. FORTE Satellite
A detailed discussion of the design and manufacture of the FORTE satellite. The composite bus structure was built by COI using their SNAPSAT technique. High-Speed Turbines for Rocket Engines
Brief report on the development of a turbopump stator made from ceramic matrix composites. Work was sponsored by NASA and performed at Rocketdyne. References. ILC Dover
Aerospace products include space suits and inflatable structures. Nice overviews of projects; a couple of detailed presentations on space inflatables. Initial Civilian/Amateur Near Orbital Mission (ICANO)
One of the competitors in the CATS (Cheap Access to Space) contest. The rockets are made in part from composites, but there's not much technical detail on the site. L'Garde
Manufacturer of inflatable space structures. Descriptions and pictures of products. Several full-text technical articles and presentations (HTML and PDF formats). MightySat
Series of small spacecraft developed by the Air Force Research Lab. A major part of the MightySat II experiment is the composite bus; see the Factsheet for some good pictures. Multifunctional Structures
The US Air Force Research Lab is reducing satellite weight by incorporating cables, connectors, and electronics into the bus structure. This fact sheet presents a brief overview. Pressure Systems, Inc. (PSI)
Manufacturer of propellant and pressurant tanks for aerospace applications. Full descriptions and specs online. Programmed Composites, Inc. (PCI)
Manufacturers of composite structures. Products page mainly lists past projects, but there are some nice pictures of aerospace structures. Rocket Nose Cone
Case study showing how Algor FE software was used to a composite nose cone for an artillery rocket. Rotary Rocket
Developer of the Roton SSTO launch vehicle. The Roton depends on composites for light weight. Brief overviews of the technology, but not much detail. Satellite Manufacturers
Reprint of article from High Performance Composites about the use of composites in new satellites. Details on Iridium, FORTE, and AXAF. Satellite/Aerospace Industry
For complete coverage of the satellite and aerospace industry, see Guide Andrew Zhalko-Tytarenko's site. Sparta
Manufacturer of composite structures. The missile and defense pages have brief descriptions of projects with some nice pictures. StarDust Mission
NASA's StarDust spacecraft uses an aerogel collector to catch debris from a comet's coma. VentureStar
Home page for the NASA-Lockheed Martin reuseable launch vehicle program. The X-33 incorporates some of the largest aerospace composite structures ever built.
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