Ten Cate, foto.
Airborne and TenCate Advanced Composites, a leading supplier of composite materials for high performance aerospace and industrial applications, announce the signing of a long-term supply agreement for advanced thermoset composite materials.
Airborne will use the composite materials supplied by TenCate to create the substrate panels of the Advanced Rigid Array (ARA) Mk4 solar array system for satellites. The ARA Mk4 technology, developed by Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands in close cooperation with Airborne, will be deployed on solar arrays for European Space Agency (ESA) missions.
The agreement covers the supply of unidirectional thermoset prepreg tape and fabric materials from TenCate’s European Centre of Excellence for thermoset systems in Langley Mill (Nottingham), UK.
Frank Meurs, chief operations officer of TenCate Advanced Composites
“This agreement is an important step forward for further cooperation with Airborne and emphasizes the reach of our advanced thermoset composites. We are proud to extend our mutual long-term relationship to the next level,” says Frank Meurs, chief operations officer of TenCate Advanced Composites.
“To join forces with TenCate Advanced Composites in the Space market is a natural fit for Airborne,” says Arno van Mourik, CEO of Airborne. “As Airborne is on a growth path in the field of sandwich panel for satellite structures, TenCate’s excellence in advanced thermoset composite materials adds an important new skill set. Teaming up with TenCate enable us to expand our leading position regarding solar-array substrate panel manufacturing for our international space customers. We are looking forward to the positive impact of TenCate’s deep industry experience and materials execution.”
