Affordable Polymer Composite Structures for Various Spacecraft Structural Components

The purpose of this technical paper is to inform spacecraft structural designers that recent developments in Polymer Matrix Composite (PMC) materials have the potential to displace most aluminum materials in structures. This paper reports on recent advances and applications of PMC materials technologies and how these technologies provide affordable structures, produced in less time, while satisfying structural performance requirements. Moreover, these advances in PMC materials and their application will allow leap ahead advances in spacecraft technology. In some structural applications, near order-of-magnitude differences in structural component cost may be possible because the advanced PMC design and manufacturing approach lends itself to automation. Current examples of polymer matrix composites spacecraft structure developed (or being developed) by Composite Optics, Incorporated will be briefly discussed