Space industry giants visit fabrics factory

Nasa and Elon Musk's Space X were among industry giants to visit a factory which provides parachute material for cosmic exploration.

Heathcoat Fabrics in Tiverton, Devon has been instrumental in supplying materials to slow down spacecraft as they land on planet or return to Earth.

Also among delegates for the parachute engineering conference was Blue Origin - known for the all-female spaceflight in April 2025 during which the factory's fabrics were used.

Peter Hill, director at Heathcoat Fabrics, said: "We're proud to be putting Devon on the map as a hub for space innovation."

Hill added: "This is a chance to showcase the incredible work our team does to support missions that push the boundaries of human achievement."

He said the firm had a "long association" with making parachute fabric which dates back to before the World War Two and has progressed through to missions to Mars.

"More and more companies are taking things to space and need to bring them back again," he added.

He said this includes pharmaceuticals which need to be manufactured in micro-gravity conditions before being parachuted to Earth.

"We're working with the MOD and the US Department of Defence on chemical warfare protection - protective clothing and lightweight parachute systems."

He said they would continue to focus on innovation to "meet the needs of an evolving market".

He said: "We've had Gayle King and Katy Perry come back safely to Earth with parachutes using fabric that was made right here in Devon."

Clara O'Farrell from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Nasa, said the fabric firm had been key to its missions.

O'Farrell added: "We partnered with the guys here to manufacture the fabric that we used to assemble the parachute that successfully landed that Rover on Mars.

"We hope to continue that partnership in future space missions."