Composites Industry Digest: Joby Opens Texas Hub, Eve eVTOL Hits 30 Knots, Infinite Composites Wins $5.5M NASA Deal
Why It MattersThe developments signal continued cross-sector maturation of composite materials and electric-aircraft propulsion, spanning hydrogen, eVTOL, space, defense, rail and marine applications simultaneously.
ETH Zurich's student-built H2-Sling aircraft, fitted with a hydrogen fuel cell system and Type 4 carbon fiber tanks, is awaiting Swiss regulatory clearance for its maiden flight ahead of a planned Alps crossing. Eve Air Mobility's eVTOL prototype completed its first partial transition flight, reaching 30 knots and 90 feet in three minutes, validating its pusher propulsion system on the path toward wing-borne flight.
Joby Aviation is acquiring Resonant Sciences to expand its defense business, adding classified infrastructure, RF-sensing capabilities and an EBITDA-positive operation supporting U.S. national security programs; separately, Joby has established a 45,000-square-foot hub at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas ahead of eVTOL Integration Pilot Program flights across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Infinite Composites has secured more than $5.5 million in NASA contracts for lunar propellant tanks, including an additional $2.9 million in CLPS-related contracts tied to its pressure vessel manufacturing expansion. Axalp Technologies fabricated custom folding CFRP propeller blades for Dufour Aerospace's Aero-200 tilt-wing aircraft to support the platform's cruise-efficiency objectives.
Elsewhere in composites, Büfa Composite Systems' Firestop Gelcoat S 320 is designed to support EN 45545-2 HL3 fire classifications in composite rail components when combined with compatible resin systems. Evergreen Additive, founded in 2025, installed a CEAD robot printer, signed a materials agreement with Airtech and fielded four composite unmanned surface vessels for marine tooling. Lohia Aerospace and Massivit are forming a joint manufacturing alliance to install Massivit's large-format 3D printing platform at Lohia's Kanpur facility for composite tooling production, while LOC Industries plans to install an 8-by-20-foot Taricco autoclave in 2027 alongside a new high-bay cleanroom to expand capacity for larger composite parts. Haddy, a Florida-based large-format additive manufacturing company, produced the TF-179 military drone boat, demonstrating digital manufacturing for defense applications. Researchers developed a one-pot process converting post-consumer PET waste into hyperbranched oligomers that nearly double epoxy impact strength at 0.3 wt.% addition while preserving transparency and thermal stability, and National University of Singapore researchers converted carbon fiber composite waste into aerogels for insulation, sound absorption and oil spill remediation.
