Aerospace and space platforms are placing unprecedented demands on sensing technology. From cryogenic fuel storage on launch vehicles to tightly controlled propulsion systems and long-duration satellite missions, engineers now require pressure sensors that can deliver absolute stability over decades of operation in some of the harshest environments imaginable.

In this context, Rhopoint Components has secured an exclusive UK partnership with Berlin-based manufacturer ICS-NH, a specialist in thin-film pressure and temperature sensors designed for mission-critical applications. The agreement brings proven European aerospace-grade pressure sensing technology directly into the UK market, supported by Rhopoint’s established technical and applications expertise.

ICS-NH’s portfolio is built around advanced thin-film architectures mounted directly on robust metallic diaphragms. This construction approach is optimised for environments where extreme temperature cycling, radiation exposure and mechanical stress are the norm, such as cryogenic tanks, propulsion lines and orbital platforms. By eliminating many of the creeping and ageing effects associated with conventional sensor stacks, thin-film devices offer significantly improved long-term stability and repeatability.

For UK system designers working on launch vehicles, satellite constellations and high-end industrial aerospace projects, the combination of ICS-NH’s high-reliability sensor technology and Rhopoint Components’ local design-in support provides a new route to achieving the performance and lifetime demanded by next generation space hardware.

Who Are ICS-NH? A Deep Dive into Their Aerospace Heritage

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Berlin, ICS-NH has evolved into a respected European specialist in high-reliability sensor design. The company’s foundations lie in precision engineering and materials expertise, supported by EN 9100 certification, the European equivalent of AS9100D, affirming its suitability for mission-critical aerospace programmes where traceability, quality assurance and repeatable performance are non-negotiable.

While aerospace and space applications form a major pillar of the business, ICS-NH’s technology is deployed across a broad spectrum of demanding environments, including medical devices, motorsport systems and advanced industrial machinery. This cross-sector experience has shaped the company’s engineering philosophy: sensors must not only withstand harsh operating conditions, but deliver stable, accurate measurements over long service lifetimes.

At the core of ICS-NH’s capability is its in-house thin-film and thick-film microelectronics production. By controlling each step, from diaphragm preparation and sputter deposition to laser trimming and electrical calibration, the company ensures precise alignment between the sensor’s mechanical, thermal and electrical characteristics. This level of vertical integration enables rapid iteration, exceptional repeatability and the ability to produce sensors tailored exactly to customer requirements.

To support increasing demand, ICS-NH is currently expanding its manufacturing footprint, including new cleanroom facilities and dedicated production space scheduled for completion by late 2025. This investment underscores the company’s commitment to scaling its aerospace-grade output while maintaining the stringent process controls required for high-reliability applications.

For aerospace primes and space-system designers, ICS-NH’s value lies in its ability to engineer sensors for the extremes, cryogenic temperatures, intense vibration, radiation exposure and multi-decade operating lifetimes. Their focus on custom-built thin-film architectures allows system developers to meet performance targets that conventional sensing technologies often struggle to achieve, positioning ICS-NH as a key contributor to Europe’s next generation of flight-ready sensing solutions.

Technology Breakdown: Thin-Film Pressure Sensors Built for Space

ICS-NH’s pressure sensors are engineered specifically for environments where conventional sensing architectures begin to fail. Their thin-film technology is built on a foundation of advanced materials, precision microelectronics and long-term stability, enabling reliable measurements in applications that span from cryogenic fuel systems to orbital platforms.

Materials and Structure

At the heart of each ICS-NH sensor is a robust metallic diaphragm made from aerospace-grade alloys such as 17-4 PH stainless steel, 316L, A286 and Hastelloy C22. These materials are selected for their mechanical strength, corrosion resistance and durability across extreme temperature and pressure cycles.

The thin-film sensing layers, comprising insulating and functional elements, are sputtered directly onto the diaphragm surface. This deposition method forms a seamless bond between material layers, eliminating many of the creep mechanisms, adhesives and intermediate interfaces found in traditional sensor stacks. The result is a highly stable sensing element with significantly reduced drift over time, even under sustained thermal and mechanical load.

Compared with conventional piezoresistive or bonded foil designs, ICS-NH’s approach offers enhanced structural integrity and long-term repeatability, particularly valuable in missions where recalibration is impossible and any form of signal degradation can compromise system performance.

Performance Characteristics

Engineered for extreme endurance, ICS-NH’s devices operate reliably across temperatures ranging from –200 °C to +260 °C. This makes them suitable for cryogenic propellant storage, liquid oxygen systems and high-temperature propulsion assemblies. Their pressure capability spans from 1.5 bar to 2,500 bar (20 psi – 36,000 psi), covering everything from low-pressure environmental monitoring to ultra-high-pressure propulsion and hydraulic systems.

Additional resilience is provided through electrical isolation ratings of 500–750 V AC, supporting robust integration into electrically sensitive or high-voltage assemblies. Each sensor is hermetically welded directly to the pressure port, ensuring a seal without additional adhesives or sealing compounds. Post-assembly, sensors undergo laser trimming to deliver precisely balanced Wheatstone bridge outputs, contributing to their exceptional accuracy.

These design choices collectively support operational lifetimes exceeding 30 years, critical for aerospace programmes where hardware must endure decades of radiation exposure, temperature cycling and mechanical stress without performance degradation.

Application Relevance

ICS-NH’s thin-film pressure sensors are widely deployed across space and aerospace systems where reliability is non-negotiable. Their cryogenic capability makes them ideal for fuel line pressure monitoring and liquid propellant management, where stability under extreme cold is essential. In orbital platforms, their low drift and high signal integrity support high-accuracy differential pressure measurements required for life-support systems, propulsion monitoring and environmental control.

Long-duration missions benefit particularly from thin-film technology’s resistance to ageing effects and radiation-induced drift. By maintaining predictable output characteristics over years or even decades, these sensors help ensure mission continuity, safety and system efficiency across the entire operational lifecycle.

Through this combination of advanced materials, precise thin-film construction and proven endurance, ICS-NH’s sensors outperform traditional designs in virtually every dimension relevant to space hardware. Their engineering approach provides the stability, robustness and longevity demanded by the next generation of space and aerospace applications.

Customisation, Integration, and UK Market Impact

One of the defining strengths of ICS-NH’s sensor portfolio is its adaptability. Around 90% of the company’s output is custom engineered, ensuring each device is tuned precisely to the performance, environmental and integration requirements of the target system. This high level of customisation is a major advantage for aerospace and space engineers, who often work within rigid mechanical constraints and highly specific sensing conditions.

ICS-NH offers a wide range of configuration options, from pressure ranges and diaphragm materials to port geometries, output formats and housing designs. Satellite developers, for example, may specify digital I²C outputs to simplify onboard electronics and reduce mass, whereas propulsion and aircraft subsystems often favour analogue or differential architectures for noise immunity and high-speed response. This flexibility enables seamless integration into diverse mission profiles, whether monitoring cryogenic feed systems, pressurised cabins or thermal control loops in low Earth orbit.

Industry Perspectives from ICS-NH and Rhopoint Components

Reflecting on the new partnership, Norbert Heinrich, CEO and Founder of ICS-NH, emphasised that making their thin-film pressure sensing technology more accessible to UK customers represents a significant step forward. According to Heinrich, the company’s mission has always centred on designing sensors that deliver unwavering accuracy in the harshest environments, and collaborating with Rhopoint opens the door for more UK aerospace developers to harness that reliability.

Daniel Theis, Technical Manager at Rhopoint Components, noted that ICS-NH’s technology aligns closely with Rhopoint’s commitment to supporting high-end measurement and sensing requirements. He highlighted that the combination of ICS-NH’s aerospace-grade heritage and Rhopoint’s design-in expertise will help UK engineers push the boundaries of precision, efficiency and operational life in space and high-performance industrial systems.

Why This Partnership Matters for the UK

For the UK aerospace and space sector, this collaboration brings clear strategic benefits. First, it widens access to specialist European thin-film sensor technology that has traditionally been restricted to limited supply chains. With increasing investment in small satellite platforms, LEO constellations and propulsion research, UK engineers now have a local source for sensors capable of surviving decades in orbit or supporting extreme propulsion environments.

The partnership also contributes to stronger domestic supply chain resilience. As mission requirements become more ambitious and pressure on international logistics continues to fluctuate, having local technical and commercial support for aerospace-grade sensing reduces development risk and shortens time-to-integration.

Ultimately, the Rhopoint–ICS-NH partnership positions the UK to better support both government and commercial NewSpace initiatives, meeting the rising demand for robust, long-life sensing systems across launch, orbital and scientific missions.

Strengthening the UK’s High-Reliability Sensing Capability

ICS-NH brings long-standing expertise in thin-film sensor engineering, backed by stringent aerospace certification and trusted by major European aerospace customers. Their technology directly addresses the challenges faced in modern space programmes, from cryogenic fluid handling to multi-decade orbital missions where reliability cannot be compromised.

Rhopoint Components, through its exclusive distributorship, ensures that this level of engineering capability is now readily available to UK developers. With deep experience in precision components and measurement technologies, Rhopoint’s support infrastructure enables engineers to evaluate, configure and integrate advanced thin-film sensors quickly and confidently.

As space missions become more complex and performance thresholds continue to rise, the demand for sensors with exceptional stability, durability and accuracy will only intensify. The availability of ICS-NH’s thin-film technology within the UK marks a significant step toward meeting these expectations, strengthening the nation’s ability to deliver high-reliability aerospace systems for the next generation of exploration and innovation.

Looking Ahead: Thin-Film Technology and the Future of Space Systems

As the space industry accelerates toward more ambitious mission architectures, thin-film sensing technologies are expected to play an increasingly central role. Their inherent resistance to drift, thermal shock and radiation makes them ideally suited to advanced propulsion systems, where precise pressure control is essential for efficiency, safety and reusability.

Reusable launch vehicles, in particular, demand sensors that can withstand repeated cryogenic cycles, high-vibration ascent profiles and the intense thermal loads encountered during re-entry. Thin-film architectures provide the long-term structural stability required to survive these stresses mission after mission, reducing maintenance overhead and improving system reliability.

In orbital platforms, the ability to maintain consistent measurement accuracy over decades opens new opportunities for long-life satellites, scientific payloads and deep-space exploration hardware. As agencies and commercial operators look to extend operational lifetimes and reduce in-orbit servicing requirements, thin-film sensors offer a dependable foundation for monitoring propulsion, thermal regulation and environmental systems with minimal degradation.

With continued advances in materials science and microelectronic integration, thin-film sensing is poised to become a cornerstone technology for next-generation spacecraft, enabling greater mission resilience, reduced risk and enhanced performance across the entire spaceflight ecosystem.