Rock West Composites delivered this large aperture space telescope structure to EOI Space. (Image: Rock West Composites/EOI Space/PR Web)
Rock West Composites delivered the completed structure to EOI Space
SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Composite components manufacturer Rock West Composites (RWC) recently delivered a large aperture space telescope structure to its customer, EOI Space, for a very low earth orbit constellation that is currently in development. Once integrated with its optics and detectors, the telescope will provide near-real-time, ultra-high-resolution earth imaging services to EOI Space’s wide customer base, RWC said in a release.
Rock West Composites provided engineering design, analysis, and fabrication services for the stable structure within a compressed schedule of six months, while meeting tight requirements for launch, orbital, and operational conditions. The telescope structure features mountings for three separate mirrors, as well as stress-free support of the imaging module and a decoupled mount to the spacecraft bus structure, the company said.
A view of the base of the telescope structure. (Image: Rock West Composites/EOI Space/PR Web)
A top view of the telescope. (Image: Rock West Composites/EOI Space/PR Web)
Telescope mirror mounts. (Image: Rock West Composites/EOI Space/PR Web)
Constructed of high-modulus unidirectional carbon fiber cyanate ester prepreg, aluminum honeycomb core, and metallic inserts, the telescope was fabricated to meet the specific needs of EOI Space’s unique optical payload. The commonality of composite components enabled a reduced part count for the first deliverable, and future iterations will be optimized for weight and producibility, according to the release.
For this telescope structure, Rock West Composites said it provided clean sheet engineering and design. This included static, quasi static, modal, acoustic, thermal, and deflection analysis to ensure all requirements were met for launch, orbital, and operational conditions.
“Our program team is very proud of the telescope structure delivered to the customer,” said Geoff Pinto, program manager for the space telescope project, in the release. “We leveraged our deep background in stable space structure fabrication to achieve the demanding requirements of this program, and we were able to exceed those demands for our customer.”
Rock West Composites is an employee-owned enterprise that develops and manufactures composite products for multiple industries, including aerospace, defense, space, radomes, commercial, industrial, medical, energy, and sporting goods. The company specializes in carbon fiber and RF-transparent composite materials, offering off-the-shelf and custom products that enable customers to solve complex problems across the product lifecycle. Rock West Composites is “one of the largest e-commerce suppliers of off-the-shelf carbon fiber tubes, plates, materials, and accessories,” the company said.
EOI Space, based in Louisville, Colorado, is working to develop a constellation of unique low-flying satellites to deliver premium, persistent Earth Intelligence. By operating in very low earth orbit (VLEO) and leveraging on-board computing technology, the satellites are expected to deliver 15-cm resolution imagery and decision-ready data within an hour from collection. This will expedite critical time-to-action and support commercial and government customers with emergency response, asset monitoring, and situational awareness, the release said.