3D-Printed Rockets Set To Blast Off

If this summer’s Terran1 launch from Cape Canaveral is a success, Relativity Space will be the first aerospace manufacturing company to send an entirely 3D-printed rocket into space. Soon after, a California start-up called Launcher will deploy its Orbiter satellite platform powered by 3D-printed rocket engines after getting a boost into space from a SpaceX.

It’s hard to overestimate the impact 3D printing – also called additive manufacturing – has had on the space industry. No other technology has enabled so many companies to enter this industry and deliver vehicles, engines, and rockets in so short a time at such low costs. And now, the number of start-up rocket manufacturers is poised to boom as more commercially available 3D printers prove up to the task of churning out space-worthy components.

For example, UK-based aerospace company Orbex hopes its 3D-printed rockets, made with the latest metal 3D printer from German manufacturer EOS, will blast off from Scotland by the end of the year. And in the U.S., young rocket engine maker Ursa Major is taking orders now for its new Arroway propulsion engine designed to displace the now-unavailable Russian-made propulsion sources. It’s also 3D printed using available metal 3D printers.

“I don’t think our company would exist without 3D printing,” says Jake Bowles, director of advanced manufacturing and materials at Ursa Major, who spent five years at SpaceX. “Our evolution was strongly tied to the existence and the maturity of 3D printing.”

Ursa Major set out to bring an engine to market at a much faster pace than it had been done before, in months not years, which was only possible by prototyping and manufacturing with 3D printers, says Bowles.

While Relativity Space and others have developed proprietary 3D printing technology for their rockets, Bowles says using new commercial 3D printers enabled Ursa Major to keep costs under control and iterate on designs rapidly, without having to stumble through the early technology development required with homegrown 3D printers.

“Our team is constantly evaluating new 3D printer companies coming out with innovations because there’s a lot of competition for a share of the aerospace and space launch market,” says Bowles. The global aerospace 3D printing market size is predicted to reach $9.27 billion by 2030, according to Strategic Market Research.

Companies are racing to offer the most powerful, most flexible, and cheapest options to companies, such as AmazonAMZN
, that are looking to put satellites into orbit to deliver global broadband, capture high-resolution images of activity on earth, and even establish private space station hotels for the ultra-wealthy.

3D Printing Fueling the Race to Commercialize Space

With additive manufacturing technology cutting launch costs by as much as 95% compared to the NASA space shuttle program, the door is open for more services from orbit driving stiff competition among rocket makers. Launcher’s company slogan reads like a Walmart ad: “Anywhere in space at the lowest cost.”

Chipping millions off the cost of deploying satellites recently garnered Launcher funding from the U.S. Space Force to further develop its E-2 3D-printed, high-performance liquid rocket engine for the Launcher Light launch vehicle, scheduled to fly in 2024. U.S. Space Force said: “Launcher’s E-2 liquid rocket engine has the potential to significantly reduce the price to deliver small satellites to orbit on dedicated small launch vehicles, which is a key capability and priority for the Space Force.”

To cut costs and speed production, Launcher also uses 3D printers from EOS as well as California-based Velo3D.

“Rocket engine turbopump parts typically require casting, forging, and welding,” says Max Haot, founder and CEO of Launcher. “Tooling required for these processes increases the cost of development and reduces flexibility between design iterations. The ability to 3D print our turbopump, including rotating Inconel shrouded impellers, thanks to Velo3D’s zero-degree technology, makes it possible now at a lower cost and increased innovation through iteration between each prototype.”

With traditional manufacturing methods for aerospace, it’s common to hear of nine- to 12-month lead times and huge expenses in tooling to build and test, something like a pump-fed oxygen-rich staged combustion engine, says Eduardo Rondon, a senior propulsion analyst at Ursa Major, another SpaceX veteran. “Additive manufacturing allows us to put a new design on the test stand, decide to make a change, work on an alternate architecture, print it, and get it on the stand in weeks.”

Orbex 3D prints its rockets on the same printer type as Launcher, the AMCM M4K-4 metal printing platform from EOS, which came out in 2021. The company has also used metal 3D printers from German company SLM Solutions.

3D Printing Not Just for Start-Ups

3D printing has a long history in space ever since SpaceX unveiled its 3D-printed SuperDraco rocket engine in 2013.

Aerospace giant Aerojet RocketdyneAJRD
redesigned its Bantam rocket engine family in 2017 take full advantage of additive manufacturing capabilities that reduce the total design and manufacturing time from more than a year to a couple of months while lowering the cost by about 65% compared to conventional manufacturing methods.

“These engines, which would normally be composed of over 100 parts, are built from only three additive-manufactured major components: the injector assembly, the combustion chamber, and a monolithic throat and nozzle section,” the company says.

Rocket Lab, another pioneer in commercial satellite launches, first launched its lightweight 3D-printed rocket engine, the Rutherford, in 2017. Its combustion chamber, injectors, pumps, and main propellant valves are all 3D-printed and have already powered 27 launches, including the one this week.

On Tuesday, Rocket Lab’s Rutherford engine powered the company’s Electron rocket from New Zealand with a NASA payload bound for the moon.

Despite the fact that NASA and seasoned launch veterans have tested, validated, and incorporated additive manufacturing into their programs for years, today’s commercial 3D printing technology and advanced metal alloy materials have matured so rapidly that companies like Launcher, Ursa Major, and Orbex can get from prototype to launch in less time for less money.

“We started from day one designing around 3D printing, and taking advantage of capabilities that it offers,” says Bowels. “This has allowed us to build internal know-how on how to optimize designs for 3D printing, which we can then apply to new engines that we need to develop and sell to meet market demand. And by already knowing how to do that we can get to market faster.”