Updated on August 21, 2026 • 4 min read
Rock West Composites (RWC) is showcasing its recently launched STRATOPultrusion product line at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, introducing space-grade pultruded composite rods and tubes designed for deployable structures and other spacecraft applications.
Developed in partnership with DPP Pultrusion, the product line targets space programs seeking standardized composite components without the lead times associated with fully customized structures.
Samples of STRATOPultrusion are being displayed at RWC’s booth #2219 during the August conference.
Pultruded Composites Target Space Deployables
STRATOPultrusion was developed to support next-generation space deployable structures, where low mass, dimensional stability and predictable material performance can be important design considerations.
The initial product offering includes composite rods and tubes.
According to RWC, these products will be available with lead times of approximately four to eight weeks and can be ordered through the company’s ecommerce platform.
The approach differs from conventional space composite procurement, where components developed around individual programs can require longer engineering and manufacturing schedules.
“There is market demand for this new product that can compress schedules and lower program risk for challenging applications,” said Jeremy Senne, vice president of RWC’s Space Structures Business Segment.
The company says additional pultruded products are already in development.
Materials Designed Around Space Requirements
RWC identifies several material characteristics targeted by the STRATOPultrusion range, including low outgassing, low to near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), high modulus, low creep and operation across a broad temperature range.
These characteristics are relevant to space structures that can experience significant temperature changes while requiring dimensional stability.
The company has not presented STRATOPultrusion as a single material specification. Exact properties therefore depend on the particular product and material system selected.
The new rods and tubes join RWC’s broader STRATO portfolio, which already includes plates, sandwich panels and solar array substrates.
Products within the STRATO range are intended for applications spanning low Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) and deep-space missions.
Traceability Included With Each Order
Documentation and traceability are also part of the product strategy.
According to RWC, each STRATOPultrusion order includes a certification package covering dimensional inspection, material certificates, traceability and a certificate of conformance.
Individual products are serialized to maintain traceability.
Depending on the product, customers can also request additional verification and testing, including resin content testing, short-beam shear testing, full traveler verification and ASTM test specimen coupons.
This provides space customers with standardized products while retaining options for additional material and manufacturing documentation when required by a program.
Pultrusion Offers Continuous Composite Production
Pultrusion is a continuous composite manufacturing process used to produce profiles with a consistent cross-section.
Reinforcement fibers are drawn through a resin system and forming tooling before the material is consolidated and cured into the required profile.
For long structural components such as rods and tubes, the continuous nature of the process can provide an efficient route to producing fiber-reinforced profiles with repeatable geometry.
RWC and DPP Pultrusion are applying this manufacturing approach to components specifically developed around space-sector requirements.
RWC Expands Its Off-the-Shelf Space Portfolio
STRATOPultrusion also reflects RWC’s broader strategy of offering pre-engineered composite products that space companies and government customers can procure without initiating a completely new custom development program.
The company already supplies composite structures for spacecraft buses, solar arrays, launch vehicles, optical systems, payloads and deployable structures.
By adding pultruded rods and tubes, RWC is extending the STRATO portfolio into another category of structural components.
The key proposition is therefore not pultrusion alone, but the combination of space-oriented material requirements, predefined products, traceability and shorter procurement schedules.
For satellite manufacturers facing increasingly compressed development cycles, standardized composite structural products could provide another option between conventional catalog materials and fully customized space hardware.
Bruce Zhou is the Founder of Jota Machinery, where he leads the development of equipment for flexible packaging and advanced composite materials. With experience in composite processing since 2011, his work is centered on practical engineering, product reliability, and building long-term value for manufacturing customers worldwide.
About Bruce Zhou