3D-Printed Rocket Engine

British space startup Orbex just showed off its Prime Rocket’s gigantic second stage — the “world’s largest 3D printed rocket engine,” according to a recent press release. The entire rocket, including the engine, will stand at 56 feet tall — roughly a quarter of the size of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Things are heating up in the world of 3D printed spacecraft. The news comes weeks after U.S.-based startup Relativity Space signed a contract with the U.S. Air Force to launch their 3D printed rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Orbex worked with aerospace engineer veterans from organizations including NASA and the European Space Association to build the Stage 2 rocket, which is the part of a multi-stage rocket that pushes a spacecraft into orbit after a launch from Earth. The startup claims it’s the first time a 3D printed rocket engine was “uniquely manufactured in a single piece without joins.” The rocket itself is made of a carbon fiber and aluminum composite that's supposed to be 30 percent lighter and 20 percent more efficient than any other small launchers in its category. 3D printing in one piece avoids the weaknesses of welding. No welds or joins also means that the rocket can withstand extreme temperature and pressure fluctuations better. The rocket is also designed to use bio-propane, a “clean-burning, renewable fuel source that cuts carbon emissions by 90 percent.”

Orbex has already made major strides, choosing the yet-to-be-built spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland, last year for its upcoming first launch in 2021. The company also partnered with Swiss satellite tech startup Astrocast to launch 64 nanosatellites to build a global Internet of Things network. Small satellite headed to sun-synchronous or polar altitudes are where Orbex expects to find business for this rocket, even if we have to wait a few more years before that actually happens. It’s yet another sign that the private space sector is growing — and at an unrelenting pace. 3D printing technology could push it even further ahead.