O n the cusp of the 21st century, more than 40 years into the Space Age, the most fantastic destinations for goods made in San Diego are those places beyond the planet.
Space is a singular marketplace and an infinite niche.
It also is where products made by Composite Optics Inc., whose main Earth address is on Distribution Avenue in Miramar, orbit around Earth, and journey to the red planet Mars and even to Jupiter. Composite Optics makes products for use in air and space from advanced composites, the materials resulting from combinations of high-performance fibers like carbon, strengthened and reinforced by resins, to become lightweight yet very stable frames and structures for optic and other instruments. The individual processes and materials would vary depending on the composite's characteristics for its special application, says James P. Gormican, president and chief executive of Composite Optics. You punch the properties of those constituent materials. The sum is greater than the strength and properties of the individual materials.