Carbon ThreeSixty (Chippenham, U.K.) announces its integral role in Advanced Structural Product Integrated Airframe (ASPIRE), a £12 million U.K. R&D program led by GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.). The 3-year project was first announced by GKN at Paris Air Show 2025 and commenced in May 2025. It aims to develop and demonstrate next-generation composite wing and flap structures, accelerating the adoption of sustainable and high-rate manufacturing technologies in the aerospace industry.

In addition to GKN and Carbon ThreeSixty, ASPIRE brings together iCOMAT, Lineat, Pentaxia and the University of Bath, with program support from Axillium and co-funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). Carbon ThreeSixty’s expertise will be crucial in two key areas of ASPIRE:

Source | Carbon ThreeSixty

Wingtip demonstrator. Carbon ThreeSixty will contribute to the development of full-scale composite wingtip demonstrators with sub-components. Irs specific focus will be on the integration of stitched deltoid noodles using recycled fibers, aligning with sustainable manufacturing goals and the reduction of aerospace’s environmental footprint.

Optimized composite flap. For this demonstrator, Carbon ThreeSixty will be responsible for the development of tailored fiber placed (TFP) structural brackets, contributing to the achievement lightweighting targets for next-generation single-aisle aircraft.

“This collaboration with GKN Aerospace and the other consortium members represents a significant opportunity to push the boundaries of composite technology,” notes Andy Smith, director, CSO at Carbon ThreeSixty. “Our contributions in processing recycled fibers and TFP are central to developing lighter, stronger and more sustainable aerospace structures. We believe ASPIRE will be instrumental in shaping the future of efficient and environmentally responsible flight.”

The ASPIRE program will deliver three full-scale composite wingtip variants for structural testing to ultimate load, providing invaluable data for validating new technologies in highly relevant test conditions. The program focuses on automation, sustainability and manufacturability.