SPEE3D, a leader in 3D cold-spray metal printing technology, has announced that SPACE3D – a project within SPEE3D that is focused on manufacturing parts for the space industry – successfully conducted the first hot fire test of a prototype rocket engine at a test site in Darwin in September.
The laboratory prototype is the first of a series of rocket engines and components designed, manufactured, and tested over the next 18 months. It was designed to harness the power of SPEE3D's cold spray metal printing technology and other new manufacturing processes that collectively aim to deliver reusable rocket engines within lead times and costs significantly lower than traditional technologies.
Last year, the SPACE3D project received $1.25m in grant funding from the Australian Government's Modern Manufacturing Initiative and an additional $312,000 from the Northern Territory Government of Australia. Generous in-kind support from Charles Darwin University and RMIT University is also gratefully acknowledged. The Australian and Northern Territory Governments are committed to enabling the SPACE3D project to help revolutionize the space industry while supporting the local economy and jobs in the Northern Territory.
"SPEE3D's cold spray technology facilitates new ways to design and manufacture demanding space components potentially more rapidly and at a lower cost than incumbent technologies," said Gary Owen, chief space officer for SPEE3D. "Our design, manufacturing, and test expertise, once proven by events such as successful rocket engine hot fire tests, will position us well to play an important role in the rapidly expanding space industry."
SPEE3D's patented technology is 1,000 times faster than traditional 3D metal printing and enables the affordable additive manufacturing process to produce industrial quality metal parts from anywhere in just minutes.
SPEE3D does not rely on helium or other gasses, unlike large additive manufacturing printers. In addition, it does not require melting metals to produce parts from over 12 material sets, including copper, stainless steel, titanium, high-strength aluminium, and nickel-based carbides.