ONE of South Lakeland’s largest manufacturers is over the moon after supplying materials for an Earth observation mission.

Technical Fibre Products (TFP), part of James Cropper PLC, has announced that its ‘advanced nonwovens’ are present on the recently launched Jason-3 Earth observation satellite.

A fine glass veil, one of the nonwoven materials manufactured by TFP, was supplied to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

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It can be found in the high temperature insulation patch on the Jason-3 satellite’s Advanced Microwave Radiometer.

TFP’s glass veil is used as the internal separation layers within the insulation patch, which is an essential part of the thermal management of the satellite.

During the satellite’s orbital manoeuvres concentrated sunlight can heat small areas of insulation.

The conventional insulation on the satellite cannot withstand this heating and must be protected by the high temperature insulation patch, which contains TFP’s veil.

The Advanced Microwave Radiometer is part of the Jason-3 mission and measures radiation from earth. It was successfully launched on January 17.

Jason-3 is the result of a collaboration between NASA, NOAA, CNES and Eumetsat and is the latest in a series of satellites dedicated to measuring the global sea surface height.

The satellite will make detailed sea-level measurements with a view to gaining greater insight into ocean circulation as well as climate change.