Airborne

Airborne develops automation and digital technology for composite manufacturing, and produces composite components for aerospace and space applications. Founded in 1995 in The Hague, the company has pursued a single objective: industrialising composite manufacturing, replacing skilled manual lay-up with precise, repeatable automation. Its technical work spans advanced composites automation, automated ply placement, thermoplastic composite manufacturing, digital manufacturing innovation and the design of industrialised manufacturing lines for lightweight structural composites.

The product portfolio includes Automated Ply Placement, technology for precise placement of composite plies, and Kit by Light, a light-guided solution within its composites automation offering. Early in its history the company designed industrialised manufacturing lines for thermoplastic composite pipes intended for extreme-depth subsea use, deployed at 3,000 metres. Airborne also manufactures composite panels for satellites, aircraft and launchers in partnership with industry leaders such as Airbus and Lockheed Martin.

The company employs around 150 professionals across two locations, in The Hague, Netherlands, and Lambourn, United Kingdom. Its end markets include aerospace, space and satellite, aircraft manufacturing, launch vehicles, subsea and offshore applications, and advanced composites manufacturing more broadly. Over 30 years the firm has moved from an early vision of affordable, high-performance composites to supplying automation technology and components to established aerospace and space programmes.