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Composites from ATIRA's VARIC to lighten Indian satellites

11 Jun '18

1 min read

Several metal parts in Indian satellites will be significantly lighter in future when these are replaced by composite textiles manufactured by the Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association (ATIRA). The recently-inaugurated Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion Centre (VARIC) in Ahmedabad will manufacture these spacecraft parts using carbon composites.

VARIC has been established with an Indian Government grant to manufacture carbon composites, according to ATIRA assistant director R M Sankar.

Carbon fabric is infused with polymer resin to offer higher durability. These composites are light, have high heat resistance and are suitable for space applications.

Parts with carbon composites will reduce the satellite launch costs of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a top Indian English-language daily reported quoting ATIRA experts.

ATIRA has so far designed parts like reflectors, outer cover of satellites, feed horn and camera structure for ISRO, which has provided to the former a list of 26 satellite parts that can be made using carbon composites. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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