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Nottingham knitting could be rocketed in to outer space to be used as antennas for satellites.

These antennas will be knitted from wires of “high-performance” gold thinner than hair and they are being developed by researchers at Nottingham Trent University.

The idea is to make them lightweight and deployable, reducing the cost of the valuable materials – with just a square meter of the wire costing “hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

“Few people associate knitting with high-end space technology,” said project lead Professor Tilak Dias, head of the Advanced Textiles Research Group in Nottingham Trent’s School of Art & Design.

“However due to the advancements in knitting technology we can now knit an antenna which is extremely lightweight, cost-effective and robust enough to withstand solar radiation.

(Image: Oxford Space Systems)

“This is a very exciting research project. And by working with Oxford Space Systems, we hope it will lead to the UK becoming a manufacturing centre for similar high-performance space materials.”

The aim is for the knitted antenna to open like an umbrella and form a parabolic shape to reflect high frequency radio signals.

The wire – which is less than half a millimetre thick – is gold-plated to make it more resistant to the harsh environment of space.

Researcher and senior lecturer Will Hurley said: “By making a satellite antenna as lightweight as possible, we can save on valuable materials and make the technology easier to deliver to space.

“And by applying novel knitting techniques, we can eradicate waste from the manufacturing process and save on valuable resources.

“When you consider that knitted gold wire can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds per square metre, waste is something we have to be very mindful of.”

The project, in collaboration with space technology business Oxford Space Systems, is being funded by the government’s Innovate UK’s: Materials & Manufacturing Round 2 Initiative from a £15m pool for businesses.

Dr Juan Reveles, chief technology officer at Oxford Space Systems, said: “Our partnership with NTU will allow us to explore novel manufacturing techniques to develop proprietary light weight and cost competitive reflector antenna technology and will position the UK favourably to exploit the commercial opportunities offered by the buoyant New Space market.”