Safety system specialist Aero Sekur of Aprilia, Italy comes to the Farnborough Airshow on the heels of signing a licensed teaming agreement with U.S.-based aerospace supplier Bullerdick GSE. Here at the airshow Aero Sekur is introducing a new lightweight flexible fuel tank while highlighting recent successes in its space projects.
The new teaming agreement will allow Aero Sekur to bundle Bullerdick GSE’s ground support offerings with its own, providing customers with “a complete range of ground support services on both the military and commercial [aircraft] sides,” said Aero Sekur chairman Mark Butler. He expressed confidence that the agreement “will mature into a two-way situation,” with Bullerdick GSE selling the two companies’ combined ground support capabilities to its customers.
The new lightweight flexible helicopter fuel tank Aero Sekur is debuting is designed to meet the stringent flexibility and crashworthiness requirements for fuselage tanks. Made from rubber along with a material the company developed in one of its many space projects, a new tank is on display at the Aero Sekur booth (Hall 1 Stand C13).
Butler said many of the company’s products, which include helicopter flotation systems, integrated life rafts, valve/inflation systems and self-sealing, crashworthy fuel tanks, incorporate technologies the company developed in its extraterrestrial programs.
Last month, a prototype of the European Space Agency’s suborbital IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, outfitted with a recovery systemdesigned by Aero Sekur under contract to Thales Alenia Space, was recovered in a test mission off the coast of Italy. Here at the airshow Aero Sekur is hosting a canvas print giveaway contest at its display to celebrate this and other space program achievements. The company’s Sekur Space and Technology (SST) SRL division has been at the forefront of these efforts.
Located near Turin in the heart of Italy’s space development region, SST is headed by Marco Adami, a 25-year Aero Sekur team member, backed by a team of 10 space engineering experts. SST’s programs include support for ExoMars missions in 2016 and 2018, AgroSpace initiatives, habitat module development, an ISS water quality project and a satellite de-orbit system innovation. A new-generation airbag system to protect rovers and payloads when landing on Mars is also being researched. The work includes design, experimental modeling and testing of the complete airbag system, which would be used for small Mars landers in the 150kg payload range.
For the ExoMars 2016 program, SST has secured contracts to supply the mission’s descent parachute system and a new air filtration solution to protect both the lander and Mars’ environment. The company’s latest AgroSpace initiative is investigating the use of zeolite, which is widely available on Mars, for plant growth. Folding habitat modules are being developed in conjunction with Thales Alenia Spazio Italy. Aero Sekur’s water quality program is designed to ensure astronauts’ health during their mission on board the ISS.
Visitors to the company’s booth who leave their business cards will be entered in a drawing on the final day of the airshow, the winner receiving a unique, meter-high canvas print of the Ariane 5 rocket.