TenCate advanced composites launched for Mars again on MAVEN orbiter

This press release was issued as TenCate Advanced Composites, prior to our acquisition by Toray Industries and name change to Toray Advanced Composites in 2019.

TenCate Advanced Composites, as a key supplier of advanced composite materials to Lockheed Martin, is proud to be supporting NASA on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter that was successfully launched this week. The MAVEN orbiter will analyze the upper atmosphere of Mars, which will help scientists examine how the climate of Mars has changed over time due to the loss of atmospheric gases.

TenCate has supported NASA and Lockheed Martin on prior Mars missions, including the Rover and Curiosity exploration vehicles. For the MAVEN orbiter TenCate Advanced Composites provided a highly stable, engineered carbon fiber-reinforced composite material that was used to fabricate the primary bus structure of the orbiter. This primary structure is cube shaped and was built by Lockheed Martin in Denver, USA, with high modulus composite face sheets sandwiched between aluminum honeycomb sheets. The entire primary structure is only 275 pounds, yet can withstand the launch forces of 6 g’s, which imparts loads of up to 61,000 lbs on the launch vehicle’s interface.

TenCate Advanced Composites is a leader in the supply of advanced composites for space, satellite, military and commercial aerospace applications.

TenCate Advanced Composites

Morgan Hill (California), USA, Thursday 21 November, 2013

(picture Lockheed Martin)