Under the heading ‘Living in Space’ and in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt – DLR), Techtextil, International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens, and Texprocess, Leading International Trade Fair for Processing Textile and Flexible Materials (both 9 to 12 May 2017), will illustrate the broad spectrum of applications for technical textiles with examples from the aerospace sector.

“Space fascinates people all over the world. All our space missions are backed by many years of research and innovation in which new materials and processing technologies played a decisive role”, says Frank Salzgeber, Head of ESA Technology Transfer Programme Office

(TTPO) on the collaboration with Techtextil and Texprocess.

Dr Rolf-Dieter Fischer, Director, DLR Technology Marketing, adds, “Thanks to their extreme durability and temperature resistance, many of the materials developed for space travel are finding their way into everyday products, and vice versa. This is particularly true of fibre-based materials with materials developed for space suits that regulate heat and moisture now being used in sports shoes, garments and home textiles.”

“It will take several years before we can hold fairs on Mars. Until then, we will show at Techtextil and Texprocess products and processes covering almost all aspects of human life, from clothing, via building and mobility, to safety, medicine and agricultural technology – in other words, all those fields that are necessary for travel and survival in space”, says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles and Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt. The range of products at Texprocess once again covers all stages in the value-creation chain for textile goods, from design, IT, cutting out, sewing, seaming, embroidery and knitting to finishing, textile printing and logistics.

Change in placement for CAD/CAM and Cutting, Making, Trimming

To make the profiles of Techtextil and Texprocess even sharper, the bonding and separating technology, CMT (Cutting, Making, Trimming), CAD/CAM and printing product segments will be concentrated together at Texprocess in hall 4.0. Thus, visitors will find Techtextil exhibitors from these segments at Texprocess. These product groups will be deleted from the Techtextil nomenclature.

Apart from this change, the overall concept behind the halls at the previous event will be retained: trade visitors will find Design, IT, CAD/CAM, CMT and Printing as well as the special IT@Texprocess section in hall 4.0. Exhibitors of machines and accessories for sewing and seaming will be presenting their products in hall 5.0 and 5.1; and hall 6.0 will showcase embroidery technology, together with finishing techniques and logistics for textiles.