Toray Celebrates 100 Years of Innovation With New Aerospace Composite Technologies

Updated on July 16, 2026 • 4 min read

Advanced materials manufacturer Toray is marking its 100th anniversary at the Farnborough International Airshow, showcasing new composite materials designed to address emerging aerospace manufacturing and thermal protection challenges.

Founded in 1926 as a rayon producer, the Japanese company entered carbon fiber development during the 1960s and has since become one of the world’s leading suppliers of carbon fiber, thermoset prepregs and thermoplastic composite materials for commercial and defense aerospace applications.

The company’s latest product introductions reflect two major trends shaping the composites industry: higher-rate aircraft production and advanced thermal management for next-generation aerospace systems.

Fast-Cure Prepreg Targets Higher Production Rates

Among Toray’s newest aerospace materials is 3960-FC, a fast-curing version of its established 3960 epoxy prepreg system.

According to the company, the material can reduce cure time by up to 45% compared with the standard resin system while remaining compatible with automated manufacturing technologies such as automated fiber placement (AFP) and automated tape laying (ATL).

Reducing autoclave cure time has become an important objective for aerospace manufacturers as commercial aircraft production rates continue to increase. Faster curing allows manufacturers to improve equipment utilization and potentially increase throughput without expanding autoclave capacity.

The material is intended for aerospace applications requiring high structural performance while supporting more efficient production processes.

High-Temperature Resin Expands Thermal Protection Options

Toray also highlighted TC1810, a polysiloxane-based preceramic resin developed for environments exposed to elevated temperatures.

The company says the material is suitable for applications including battery containment systems, thermal protection structures, heat shields and leading-edge components, operating across temperatures from approximately 260°C to 1,000°C (500°F to 1,832°F).

As aerospace platforms increasingly incorporate electric propulsion, hypersonic technologies and reusable space systems, demand continues to grow for materials capable of maintaining structural performance under extreme thermal conditions.

Circularity Becomes Part of Composite Manufacturing

Beyond new material development, Toray also highlighted progress in composite recycling.

Earlier this year, Toray Advanced Composites Netherlands, together with Airbus, Daher and Tarmac Aerosave, received the JEC Innovation Award for Circularity and Recycling for a project focused on recovering composite materials from retired aircraft.

The project demonstrated the recycling of A380 pylon cover fairings, addressing one of the industry’s emerging challenges as composite-intensive aircraft begin reaching the end of their operational service life.

With increasing numbers of composite aircraft expected to be retired over the coming decades, end-of-life recycling is becoming an increasingly important consideration alongside material performance and manufacturing efficiency.

Composite Innovation Continues to Evolve Beyond Lightweighting

Professor’s Analysis

The latest materials introduced by Toray illustrate how composite innovation is expanding beyond the traditional objective of weight reduction.

Fast-curing prepregs directly address one of today’s largest aerospace manufacturing constraints: autoclave utilization. Improving production efficiency can significantly influence aircraft output without changing structural design.

Meanwhile, preceramic resin systems represent another important direction for advanced composites. As operating temperatures increase in aerospace propulsion and thermal protection applications, conventional polymer matrices reach their performance limits, creating opportunities for hybrid ceramic-polymer materials.

Equally notable is Toray’s continued investment in composite recycling. As aerospace manufacturers seek to reduce environmental impact throughout the entire aircraft lifecycle, material recovery is becoming an increasingly important component of composite technology development.

A Century of Materials Development

Toray’s centenary highlights the evolution of the company from a textile producer into one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced aerospace composite materials.

For the composites industry, the technologies presented at Farnborough demonstrate that future innovation will depend not only on stronger materials but also on faster manufacturing, improved thermal performance and more sustainable lifecycle management for composite structures.

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