In June 2022, the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch the JUICE mission to Jupiter and its icy moons. ESA selected Airbus as prime contractor for the design, development, production, and testing of spacecraft JUICE. As market leader in the manufacturing of solar array substrate panels in Europe, Airborne was selected by Airbus Defence and […]
Meeting challenges to deliver JUICE’s XL substrate panels on time Read More »
Everybody knows 3D printing and how easy it is to use: start the printer, send your design file to it and off you go. You can do it yourself with your in-house printer, or use a web service where you upload your design, get a quote and order the part. That is exactly what we want
THE WORLD’S FIRST PORTAL TO PRINT COMPOSITE PARTS Read More »
The future of public transportation will be airborne. Fast urbanisation and the emergence of new mega cities requires disruptive urban mobility solutions to facilitate thousands of daily commutes. OEMs and startups alike are racing the clock to launch the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft by 2025. In other words: personal air transportation
Is the Urban Air Mobility Industry ready for Take-Off? Read More »
Where the space industry used to be a battleground for superpowers with agencies sponsored by governments, today newspace companies are shaping the future. In the space market, there is an increasing demand for small satellites: in the next decade many thousands of these smallsats must find their way into Earth orbit. But without access to
We are in the midst of a huge transformation. Some call it Industry 4.0, Manufacturing 4.0 or e-Factory, others say Connected Factory, Intelligent Manufacturing or in short FoF (The Factory of the Future). In conclusion, the fuzz about all this buzz is that we are entering a new phase of digital manufacturing characterised by complete
The advanced composites industry has not been idle over the last few years. New and innovative solutions hit the market to help accelerate composites adoption across more markets, like automated production lines that enable higher production volumes and reduce production costs. But, let’s be honest: it is still complex to use the technology. To accelerate
What’s in a name? Sometimes projects are called exactly the way they make us feel. SMILE is such a project. In December 2018, Airborne completed their contribution to the European Commission Horizon 2020 project called SMall Innovative Launcher for Europe (SMILE). A number of parties were involved in this. What was in it for Airborne?
How the Automated Laminating Cell skyrocketed the SMILE project Read More »
It must be frustrating: having decades of experience and knowledge producing composites parts with existing production lines, but watching a newcomer walk away with the order because they can produce faster and cheaper with their brand new production line. You know automation is the way to go, but investment costs are putting you off. How
Composites manufacturers: are you making the best of your brownfield situation? Read More »
In my first blog I talked about the conversion costs of composites in Aerospace: why these are still way too high and why that is a problem. It was interesting to see how this message was received and how people responded. Of course, the subject was inspired by the Farnborough International Airshow at the time,
The need for speed: why the composites industry should radically change. Now. Read More »
The challenge of composite manufacturing is to become more efficient and scale up to high volume applications. If we take an analogy with food, it may sound logical to think of fast food: standardised, mass production, constant quality. But actually, we should think much more as a master chef and follow his or her way
Composite manufacturing: fast food or chef’s cuisine? Read More »
