Space Tech Trends: Advanced Materials

By Aaron Burnett

If you’ve been following the news recently, chances are you’ve been hearing a lot about space. According to reports by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, the space industry is on the verge of a big boom. 

If you’re looking for opportunities to invest in that forecasted boom, you’ll likely want to understand some of the core technologies driving the growth.

One of the fundamental technologies underpinning the future of space is advanced materials, specifically composites. Simply put, a composite material is a substance that results from combining two or more distinct materials. The result is often an entirely unique, hybrid product with properties far different from, and much more valuable than, the capabilities of its parent materials. (A quick note on alloys: alloys and composites are both mixtures of elements, but the difference is that alloys by definition must include one metal in their composition, while composites do not contain any metal components.)

 Common examples of composites include fiberglass (made from combining glass into a plastic matrix), concrete (made by combining stones, cement and sand) and yes, even bones of the human body (derived from an age-old bio-recipe that combines calcium phosphate and collagen). In each case, these composite materials are much more versatile (fiberglass), strong (concrete) and rigid (bone) than their parent materials, opening up a wide range of additional capabilities and practical uses.

Composites make the best “building blocks,” and the same principles that have allowed humanity to expand our transportation networks over the past fifty years (from bridges to highways to carbon fiber sports cars and airplanes) are now being applied to space. For example, Lockheed Martin has been quick to implement carbon and glass-fiber reinforced laminates into the most heavy components of their F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft. It isn’t a stretch to imagine similar components being used to build the next generation of space shuttles and lunar habitation modules.

 Other companies like Infinite Composites have developed multiple types of cutting edge composite pressure vessels built with advanced manufacturing processes that have applications on land (e.g. fuel storage tanks), underwater (e.g. hydrogen / general fluid storage), in the air (e.g. emergency slide inflation) and, of course, in space (e.g. pressurant and propellant tanks). 

In addition to Infinite Composites, there are plenty of private space companies currently developing novel and game-changing composite materials to address the space industry’s complex needs:

• Cosmic Shielding Corporation aims to mitigate radiation exposure for spacecraft by using its proprietary Multifunctional Shielding Polymer (MSP) to prevent the worst varieties of space radiation from reaching critical assets and personnel. 
• Airborne offers automated manufacturing for specialized solar-array substrate and sandwich panels for satellites, extending the life and performance of these expensive assets. 
• Carbice sells a composite-based Thermal Interface Material (TIM) designed to keep semiconductors and other sensitive processors/subsystems cool over the course of space missions. 
• Forge Nano is using a technique called Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to create extremely precise coatings with customized properties for mission components operating in harsh conditions at scale. 

There is a clear trend for a growing composites market: as of 2020, the total global advanced space composites market was valued at roughly $845 million, with some projections expecting this segment to grow at a CAGR of 11.94%, to $2,882 million by 2031. The demand for assets like high-altitude craft, lightweight, reusable launch vehicles and satellites will continue to drive innovation and R&D in these markets.  And it’s only accelerating: the FCC just recently approved plans for 38,000 new satellites, a ten fold increase in the number of current operational satellites in orbit today.

Not to mention the integration of advanced robotics, automation and sophisticated simulation software in manufacturing - commonly referred to as “Industry 4.0” - is also likely to decrease the cost and time to make composites contributing to mass adoption.

 Advances in composite materials may not be the most “in your face”of technological revolutions taking place today, but they are certainly worth paying attention to if you plan or aspire to include space as part of your long term investing strategy

Aaron Burnett is the Founder and CEO of Spaced Ventures; the planet’s first public space investment portal. Aaron has mobilized a community of 4,000+ space investors to back the next generation of space startups. He is passionate about democratizing access to and education about space technology and investing. 

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed herein are for informational purposes only as of the date of production and may change at any time and may not come to pass. Neither the author, nor any company that employs the author guarantees any specific outcome, profit or the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This information is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security or investment strategy.  This information should not be considered legal, investment, tax or accounting advice.

This material does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for you.  Investing involves the risk of loss. Investments in private companies are particularly risky and you should only consider investing if you can afford to lose your entire investment and are willing to live with the ups and downs within the industry in which you invest.

 

 

SOURCES:

https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/02/why-the-space-industry-may-triple-to-1point4-trillion-by-2030.html

https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/composites-in-space(2)

https://www.compositesone.com/the-benefits-of-composite-materials-in-aerospace-applications/

https://www.avient.com/products/advanced-composites/explained

https://smicomposites.com/then-now-a-brief-history-of-composites-materials/

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-composites-820404

https://encyclopedia.pub/10519

https://www.airborne.com/

http://carbice.com/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/visualizing-easrth-satellites-sapce-spacex

https://bisresearch.com/industry-report/advanced-space-composites-market.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/05/space-companies-ask-fcc-to-approve-38000-broadband-satellites.html

https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/how-many-satellites-are-orbiting-the-earth-in-2021/