NASA is partnering with Aerojet Rocketdyne to advance 3D printing technologies, known as metal additive manufacturing, for liquid rocket engines in landers and in-orbit stages/spacecraft.
autoevolution 21 May 2021, 14:14 UTC ·
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Slowly but surely, the wonder that is 3D printing is taking over the manufacturing world. Generally depicted as additive manufacturing, the method has a number of advantages over traditional processes and can literally be used in any field including rocket building. 1 photo
Historically speaking, the rockets that have supported space programs over the years have been extremely complicated machines. It takes forever to make them, they need tons of resources to be put together, and they generally get thrown away after just one use.
NASA is planning to cut back on some of these aspects by going the 3D printing way. Together with Aerojet Rocketdyne, it has already started putting together parts that could be used in the near future to make a more lightweight, simpler, and cost-efficient liquid rocket engine.