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Composite materials are finding their way into aerospace applications thanks to their high stiffness-to-mass ratio. Nevertheless, composite components require frequent inspections because of their sensitivity to critical damage. Damage as small as barely visible impact damage (BVID) can grow as result of structural loading, with component failure as possible outcome. Optical fibre sensors (OFS) are considered excellent candidates for permanently installed structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, owing to their many advantages over electrical sensors. Current state-of-the-art BVID detection with OFS has so far however been limited to proof-of-concept demonstrations at low technology readiness levels. In this work, we equipped a total of 16 coupons, made of 5 different state-of-the-art composite materials, with aerospace compatible embedded or surface mounted optical fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs). We …