Aerospace

Rising fuel costs, environmental regulations and an increase in airline traffic have helped drive the increasing use of composite materials in the aerospace industry. Composites are used in military, business and commercial aircraft of all sizes, including spacecraft.

COMAC Reveals Major Milestone in Development of CR929 Aircraft

Last week, the American division of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) revealed that manufacturing tests of full-scale 15 x 6-meter composite fuselage panels for the CR929 aircraft have been...

Rocket Lab Conducts First Successful Commercial Space Launch in Southern Hemisphere

On Jan. 21, Rocket Lab successfully reached orbit with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle known as “Still Testing.” The rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s launch complex on...

Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner Cleared for Commercial Service by Federal Aviation Administration

Last week, Boeing announced that its 787-10 Dreamliner received an amended type certificate (ATC) from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), clearing the airplane for commercial service. The...

Airbus Rolls out its First A321neo ACF

Airbus has completed assembly of the first A321neo ACF (Airbus Cabin Flex) at its facilities in Hamburg, Germany. The aircraft will undergo ground tests prior to its scheduled first flight in the coming weeks....

SpaceX Planning to Send a Tesla Roadster to Mars

Last month, Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who founded SpaceX, said on Twitter that he planned to launch a Tesla electric car into Mars orbit in 2018. While the announcement was initially met with...

Standards and Training Are Key to Composite Repair

Citing the dangers of poor composite repair, Michael J. Hoke, owner of Abaris Training Resources Inc., focused his half-hour talk on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at the CAMX Presentation Theater on the solution:...