Luxembourg partnership to produce ultra-lightweight materials for major players in space industry

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and Luxembourg company Gradel have announced a joint venture to develop and produce 3D carbon fibre structures to be used in the aeronautics and space industry.

Source : rtl.lu
Date de publication : 26/01/2021

In the domain of space and satellites, weight is expensive. The heavier a product for transport into space is, the more it costs. In fact, the current estimate is costs of around €5,000-10,000 per kilogram, meaning that any weight loss is beneficial financially for companies sending satellites into space. It also reduces the energy (in other words fuel) required to move it.

That’s where LIST and Gradel come in, aiming to produce very tough, yet ultra-lightweight structures using continuous carbon-fibre-reinforced-polymers (CFRP) in a filament winding process creating ultralight 3D structures. The carbon fibre is coated with a polymer that solidifies the entire object rendering it extremely solid and resilient.

The components produced are destined for for equipment in satellites, especially antennas. Currently many of these parts are metallic and therefore relatively heavy. The aim is to move away from metal parts, and with this new technology by LIST and Gradel produced in Luxembourg, a reduction of up to 75% in weight can be achieved, saving companies considerable costs.

The parts will be produced for three European giants in satellite construction; Thales Alenia Space (France), Airbus Defence and Space (France), and OHB (Germany).

There will be two projects being carried out at the LIST-GRADEL labs: One project known as “xFKin3D”, the name of the process technology, consists of making parts by hand with the filament weaving manually. The second project to be known as “Robotised xFKin3D” will be the challenge of producing the same parts as the first project, but with the use of a new robotic arm recently installed at LIST, making it a fully automated manufacturing process.

LIST will contribute its expertise in the formation of the materials and play a major role at the start and of the process and development, researching and determining such things as the correct conditions, speed, printing, pressure, temperature etc, needed to obtain parts of strong and good quality.

Both projects are supported by the Luxembourg National Space Programme LuxIMPULSE, which aims at providing funding to help companies established in Luxembourg to bring innovative ideas to market. The programme is managed by the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) together with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Josh Oudendijk

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