Hexcel (: HXL) is a materials company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, that manufactures composite materials and structural parts. The company was founded in 1946, and its first product was supplying honeycomb for the construction of military bombers. During the guided missile boom in the 1950s, and 1960s, Hexcel developed and manufactured honeycomb materials for Titan, Atlas, Polaris families of rockets, both military (ICBM) and space applications, Hawk guided missiles, and other military missiles and rockets, for spacecraft launch vehicles Saturn, Centaur, Mercury, Nova, as well as Gemini and Apollo space programs. Line of aerospace products included ablative heat shield matrixes, common bulkheads, rocket engine nozzles, energy absorption materials
Hexcel claims to be the largest US producer of carbon fiber; a weaver of structural fabrics; the largest producer of composite materials such as honeycomb, prepreg, film adhesives and sandwich panels; and a manufacturer of composite parts and structures. Hexcel's primary markets are aerospace, defense, wind energy and industrial markets including automotive, marine and recreation. In 1971, Hexcel was a manufacturer of alpine skis, and it presently supplies composite materials for ski and snowboard manufacture.