Aerospace Composites Move Beyond 'Simple Manufacturing'... Support for Entry into Global Supply Chains

KASA Holds Roundtable with Eight Companies
Enhancing Capabilities in Design, Certification, and Mass Production

The government is promoting domestic aerospace composite companies from simple component manufacturers to high value-added suppliers capable of handling design, certification, and mass production. The plan is to involve them from the initial stages of next-generation civil aircraft development to support their entry into the global aerospace supply chain.

The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) announced on September 14 that it held the 11th Aerospace SOS Roundtable at Songwol Technology in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, together with domestic composite material and component companies. The event was attended by eight companies: Deck Carbon, Songwol Technology, Spacepro, ANH Structures, KGF, HiZ Aerospace, Korea Carbon, and Hyosung Advanced Materials.

Reference photo to aid understanding of the article. At Korean Air Maintenance Hangar in Jung-gu, Incheon, a Korean Air predictive maintenance engineer and technician are inspecting the temperature sensor installed on the intake of the A330 aircraft engine. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang

The companies requested the establishment of a domestic testing, evaluation, and certification infrastructure for composite materials and components, the creation of a joint database (DB), the expansion of pilot testing and the application of domestic materials through collaboration with demand companies, as well as sharing mid- to long-term business information between demand and supply companies.

Aerospace composites are key materials that determine aircraft weight reduction and fuel efficiency. Not only material characteristics but also the molding and processing stages impact final performance, so comprehensive capabilities are required—from material selection and component manufacturing to testing, verification, quality management, and mass production—to join the global supply chain.

KASA plans to reflect the companies' feedback in relevant policies and new business initiatives and to support everything from testing and verification in connection with demand companies from the early stages of development to actual application in aircraft.

KASA Administrator Tae seog Oh stated, "Rather than following the supply chain after it is established, our companies must develop technological, certification, and mass production capabilities now so they can participate from the early stages of development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.