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Leading SiC producer Saint-Gobain is now producing SiC products for space. The company, that celebrates its 350th birthday this year, produced a special SiC at its operations in Norway for the structure and camera on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta space probe that performed a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in November 2014. “This is a very special product that we developed that can handle being exposed to very high and very low temperatures. It is the product furthest from the Earth that we have supplied,” said sales & marketing director Falk Ask.

This was the second time that SaintGobain has created special SiC product for a space mission, having previously produced components for the ESA Gaia telescope. This was launched in December 2013 to construct a 3D space catalog of approximately 1 billion astronomical objects.

The Rosetta product was a highlight of a solid 2014 for Saint-Gobain in which the company was profitable at all its operations around the world and the main markets it supplies, such as abrasives and refractories. The company also increased market share in technical ceramics and traditional markets such as abrasives and refractories, “due to quality and service,” said Ask.

Saint-Gobain will continue its efforts to grow its market share in 2015, particularly in its traditional markets such as refractories. Whilst some of the company's SiC operations have spare capacity, the company intends to grow further and is planning to double production capacity at its operation in Bhutan. The company started production in Bhutan in 2008 from Acheson furnaces to supply products to the Indian market. “We want to continue to expand and co-develop tailor-made products with customers, such as that for theRosetta probe,” said Ask.

The company pulled back from supplying the Chinese solar market in 2013, closing three factories in China that were mainly dedicated to supplying the solar sector. “Solar is not a main SiC market for us anymore,” said Ask. Whilst Ask would not comment specifically on pricing, we did say that the company is concerned that some pricing is separating from production costs. “We are a bit worried to see how price has decreased in some areas in recent years and seems to have disconnected from the cost evolution,” he said.

By Paul Harris