Coper­nicus satellite production terminated

18 Dec Coper­nicus satellite production terminated

iprotex involved in research and develo­pment of the satellite antenna

The European Space Agency ESA signed contracts for the manufac­turing of the new ROSE‑L satellite as part of the Coper­nicus program. Coper­nicus is one of the largest European space programs and delivers important earth obser­vation data that is used for environ­mental protection, climate monitoring and the estimation of natural disasters. The new ROSE‑L satellite will join the satellite fleet for radar monitoring in the L band (radio frequency band).

By the growing amount of data occurring in indus­trial astro­nautics, a new generation of satellite antenna is developed especially for the new Coper­nicus satellite. The so-called reflector subsystem consists of one unfoldable arm and one large reflector with a diameter of up to 20 meters. The reflector as “the heart of the antenna“  is a iprotex co-developed knitting fabric consisting of gold coated tungsten steel, with its filaments thinner than a human hair. The knitted fabric offers electrical conduc­tivity and a reflective surface for receiving the electro­ma­gnetic waves sent from earth. The complete reflector is foldable and offers crucial advan­tages regarding the reduction of packing material. The subsi­diary HPtex  is a coope­ration with our partner HPS and was especially founded to guarantee efficient develo­pment and research of high-tech textiles and knitted fabrics for this special ambit.

The whole project is seen as a milestone in the history of German and European space aviation and textile industry. The iprotex Group is very proud to be a part of such a futuristic project and once more show it’s innovation power and expertise in textile techno­logies. The research and develo­pment of innovative textiles working under extreme condi­tions is a promising field that might give us knowledge transfer for many other appli­cation areas of textile production.