News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Made In Space (MIS), the company that brought 3D printing to the International Space Station, has been acquired by Redwire, a specialist in mission critical space solutions and a producer of space components. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the acquisition comprised of Made In Space and Made In Space Europe, the original company’s sister company based in Luxembourg.
Additive manufacturing is a key technology to providing innovative solutions for optimized optical instruments, meeting the growing demand for lightweight optical instrumentation aboard space and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms. To prove the feasibility of its ceramic 3DOPTIC service, 3DCeram produced a plane mirror for front-end laser engine (galvo-mirror for high-energy laser application) and optical applications, applying additive manufacturing to the design and manufacturing of the optical substrate.
A U.S. Air Force program led by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) is leveraging Senvol’s data-driven machine learning software for additive manufacturing to develop a methodology for demonstrating the viability of multi-laser AM systems for flight applications. Specifically, the Senvol ML software platform is being used to analyze an EOS M400-4 quad-laser powder bed fusion machine.
VELO3D, the developer of support-free metal 3D printing technology, has today announced it received a $20 million order from an existing aerospace customer. The order for its metal additive manufacturing systems is the largest it has received since its commercial launch in September 2018.
With the travel and social restrictions imposed to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay, doing business looks a lot different today than it did last year. No longer are AM industry players meeting at trade shows or traveling to global offices, instead, we are tuning in virtually to stay in touch. Despite the physical and mental challenges of talking to a screen all day, I think the additive manufacturing industry has made the best of the situation, quickly rallying to create webinars and other engaging digital content.
The space entrepreneurs who planned to send passengers ballooning into the stratosphere for astronaut’s-eye views of the Earth below, way back in 2013, have revived the idea for a new venture called Space Perspective. Co-CEOs Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter unveiled their concept for a balloon-borne capsule called Spaceship Neptune today, and said that uncrewed test flights are due to begin early next year.
As the aviation industry recovers from a massive and unprecedented hit, the AM lessons learned over the last two decades are now moving on to benefit other segments of the aerospace business. Advancements in space as well as in VTOLs, drones, helicopters and a number of other flying defense products are driving a new aerospace world order.
The joint program by the MoD’s Flight Technologies Department, part of the Directorate for Defense Research and Development, and IAI has seen the production of the SkysPrinter UAV and a successful test flight – Defense intelligence website Janes exclusively reported.
Rocket Lab, one of the space industry’s unicorn startups, successfully launched its Electron rocket to deliver a payload of satellites to orbit in the Don’t Stop Me Now mission. Rocket Lab is known for its massive use of additive manufacturing in the production of the Electron rocket’s propulsion system, the Rutherford Engine. The rocket launched, as scheduled, on June 13th, from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
Launcher, an NYC startup developing the world’s most efficient rocket to deliver small satellites to orbit, started by leveraging 3D printing to develop a high-performance propulsion system. In no segment like the space industry segment, 3D printing is enabling small teams to get into the game and compete with industrial giants on getting stuff into orbit. Now the company is ready to move on to the next stage: avionics, and to do so, having established a valid and credible proposition, it was able to attract NASA JPL & SpaceX veterans Kevin Watson and Rich Petras.