Space qualification extended to 2009

Labtech is celebrating after hearing that its European Space Agency qualification has been extended to 2009.

Labtech is celebrating after hearing that its European Space Agency qualification has been extended to 2009.

The innovative company, which has a workforce of 90 at its state-of-the-art headquarters in Presteigne, has ESA approval to manufacture space qualified printed circuit boards using Duroid RT6002 and Duroid RT6002 with aluminium backplanes.

Bob Lowther, Labtech's Sales and Marketing Director, said: "The extension to our ESA qualification is excellent news as we see the space market as a key element to our continued success".

Labtech is playing a key role in a satellite project to monitor the Mediterranean area to prevent natural disasters.

Microwave printed circuit boards manufactured by the company are being used in the radar component of the COSMO-SkyMed satellite project, a French-Italian Earth observation system being built by Alenia Spazio in Italy.

The satellites will be equipped with synthetic aperture radar that provides very high resolution images.

Labtech has been selected by Alenia Spazio to supply the project for the next three years.

"The commitment to Labtech by Alenia Spazio is very welcome as Labtech continues to pursue high end space and defence qualified work", said Lowther.

The COSMO (Constellation of Satellites for Environmental Observation) - SkyMed is being built by Alenia Spazio, a Finmeccanica company, on behalf of the Italian Space Agency.

The system will monitor the Mediterranean region and provide information for a variety of applications including the prevention of natural disasters as well as coastal and agricultural monitoring.

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