AEROSPACE

European startup Orbex’s new rocket printer is the latest example of how 3D printing revolutionizes the space launch industry. The company’s rocket will launch small, polar-orbiting satellites from its home spaceport in Scotland. But doing this reliably while keeping costs low can only happen by 3D-printing Orbex’s rocket engines, turbopumps and other components. That’s why they commissioned “the largest industrial 3D printer in Europe” from Additive Manufacturing Customized Machines (AMCM). “A large-scale in-house 3D printing system like this gives us far greater speed and agility as we ramp up production," Orbex CEO Chris Larmour said. “Longer term, as we get…

In a milestone for 3D printing, a rocket engine with a 3D-printed component helped put a US Space Force early warning satellite into orbit last week. The RL10 has been a mainstay of American spaceflight. The fact that its manufacturer, Aerojet Rocketdyne, would use 3D printing to make even a minor part of the RL10, much less the core main injector, shows how far additive manufacturing has come. Why 3D Printing Makes Better Rocket Engines When it comes to extreme conditions, there is nothing like the environment of a rocket launch. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at -423°F enter the…