Hübner silicone seals to protect Giant Magellan Telescope

Kassel, Germany - Huebner Group is supplying silicone seals for the Giant Magellan Telescope, which aims to look deeper into the space by 2029, using seven of the world’s largest mirrors.

The seals will be placed around the mirrors like inflatable rings and protect the underlying mechanics and electronics, Huebner announced 15 Feb.

The German supplier aims to provide a total of six silicone seals, each 26.9 metres long, and one 7.3-metre-long seal to the project by 2027.

In collaboration with client OHB Digital Connect GmbH, Huebner said it built a special test rack near its production site in Kassel, to develop prototypes and test functionality.

They seals will be subsequently manufactured at the group’s competence centre silicone at PolymerTechnik Ortrand GmbH (PTO).

According to Huebner, the group’s PTO location will initially produce the seals in one piece and send them for further processing at Huebner’s location in Kassel.

The silicone seals will be assembled in such a way that they can be supplied vulcanised as rings with diameters of around 8.55m or 2.26m.

They will seal the seven mirrors of the Giant Magellan Telescope against a surrounding sheet metal frame during cleaning work.

This prevents cleaning fluid from damaging the electronics underneath.

OHB Digital Connect GmbH and its consortium partner Ingersoll Machine Tools were commissioned with the development of the Giant Magellan Telescope mount in Atacama Desert, Chile, in 2019.

Recently, one of the three large subsystems, the telescope mount, successfully passed the final design review, thereby paving the way for further production.

“Developing components for the Giant Magellan Telescope is an exceptional order for us,” said Ingolf Cedra, managing director of Huebner group.

The project, he said, demonstrates the group’s approach to developing special material solutions in collaboration with customers.

Huebner started the silicone competence centre at its PTO location in 2022.

The unit manufactures silicone profiles for different applications, including seals for buses and trains, as well as industrial applications.