Airborne Aerospace B.V. today announced it has been selected by Airbus Netherlands B.V. to supply panel and yoke substrates for the Sparkwing solar arrays are provided to MDA Space AURORATM, the software-defined satellite product line enabling constellations to extend communication networks to every corner of the world.
Under the MDA AURORATM contract, Airbus will supply the Sparkwing solar arrays wings, consisting of two wings with five panels each and providing a photovoltaic area of well over 30 sqm. Airborne will provide 700 high-precision and ultra-stiff composite substrate panels, combining advanced aerospace expertise with highly automated composite production technologies.
Sandor Woldendorp, Director Airborne Aerospace said: “This agreement highlights the strength of Airborne’s expertise, bringing together our deep knowledge in aerospace and substrate panels with cutting-edge automated production. It’s a privilege to work with a partner like Airbus who shares our vision, and we are ready to meet the challenge of delivering high-performance solar array panels at scale. This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for us to support the newspace challenges with our scalable production capabilities.”
The Airborne production will deliver over 700 solar array substrate panels, ramping up to a consistent output of 40 panels per month for the MDA AuroraTM satellite constellations, while still leaving room for more capacity. This capacity is enabled by automated production processes, incorporating the Automated Tape Layer (ATL) robot for the composite laminates. Airborne’s automated production line is engineered for scalability, ensuring both reliability and efficiency to meet current and future market demands.
“Our Sparkwing solar arrays are designed for low cost series production, ideally suited for constellations. Bringing Airborne on board as one of the key partners for the panel and yoke substrates marks an important next step for preparing the production for MDA’s assignment. Selecting multiple suppliers was a strategic measure to ensure we have the right capacity to handle the scale of this project, as well as future opportunities. We look forward to a productive and successful collaboration,” says Tom Houwen, Head of Procurement at Airbus in the Netherlands.