The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) has announced a new partnership venture with Luxembourg company Gradel to research and produce ultra-lightweight structures for the aeronautics and space industry. Parts will be produced for three European giants in satellite construction; Thales Alenia Space (France), Airbus Defence and Space (France), and OHB (Germany).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.The new partnership is 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. Impregnated carbon fibres are wound to form an optimised 3D-mesh design that gives the part its special mechanical properties.Two projects will be carried out at the LIST-Gradel labs, the first called “xFKin3D”, consists of making parts by hand with the filament weaving manually. It will target the demonstration space-use standards of structural parts produced by the xFKin3D technology.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, assuring excellent repeatability, to the same strength and quality, but on a larger scale.The components produced are destined for use in all that is antenna support, bracket for equipment in satellites. 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.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).

Carbon fiber, as one of the most strategically significant new materials in the 21st century, is now embracing unprecedented development opportunities. This article will comprehensively analyze the current development status, competitive landscape and future trends of the carbon fiber industry, from the changes in global market supply and demand to the rise path of Chinese enterprises, from the direction of technological breakthroughs to the explosive growth of downstream application fields, presenting readers with a complete industrial panorama. This article will focus on interpreting the latest progress of carbon fiber in core application fields such as aerospace, new energy vehicles, and wind turbine blades, analyze the competitive strategies and technical route choices of domestic and foreign enterprises, and based on the latest policy environment and market demand, look forward to the key trends and potential opportunities of the industry's development in the next five years.

To ensure clean energy power generation projects, Masdar City in ABU Dhabi has introduced the concept of "Windstalk".For more information about the Windstalk projectWindstalk is a concept of a generator fully driven by wind power and also a public space. This project took into account the hint of wind direction. To be precise, Masdar's Windstalk project consists of 1,203 wind poles, which are anchored at a height of 55 meters above the ground. The diameter of its concrete base is between 10 and 20 meters.The visible stems are made of carbon fiber reinforced resin rods, with a bottom diameter of 30 centimeters and a top diameter of 5 centimeters. The top of the pole is equipped with an LED light, which can adjust the brightness according to the wind force. When there is no wind, the pole remains stationary and the lights will dim.

Yesterday, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical released its independently developed 60K large-filament carbon fiber in Shanghai. This product is a domestic first, effectively filling the domestic industrial gap, and its performance has reached the international leading level. By now, Shanghai has the production capacity of nearly 20 types of carbon fiber products with different filament specifications such as 24K, 48K and 60K, and the carbon fiber industry chain has achieved independent control.