Josef Vladik from Czech Republic designed and 3d printed a remotely controlled Mars robotic rover inspired by Curiosity rover. It is all wheel powered and controlled with Arduino Mega.
Tech specs:
main control unit is Ardunio Mega.
for moving six 9g servos re used with metal gears and they are customized for 360 rotation
for steering six standard 9g servos are used
control is standard 4 channels
Powered by 2S or 3S lipo battery - 6V SBEC
Here you can see this DIY rover in action:
... and here is the rover going over the obstacles:
Here is the project homepage (currently unavailable) where the author posted build instructions:
European Space Agency is also sending a 3d printer to International Space Station. It will be the second 3d printer in space. The printer is named POP3D and it's developed in Italy. First ISS 3d printer is already working on ISS and was developed by "Made in Space" and delivered by SpaceX.
Here is the video by Altran:
From the source article:
Europe’s very first 3D printer in space is scheduled for installation aboard the ISS next year. Designed and built in Italy, it will be put to the test as part as ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s Futura mission, and is set to reach orbit in the first half of next year. Samantha herself will be launched on her six-month Station assignment on 23 November.
“The POP3D Portable On-Board Printer is a small 3D printer that requires very limited power and crew involvement to operate,” explained Luca Enrietti of Altran, prime contractor for the compact printer.
The unit is a cube with 25 cm sides and prints with biodegradable and harmless plastic using a heat-based process.
“Part of the challenge of designing a 3D printer for the Station was to ensure its operation does not affect the crew environment,” added Giorgio Musso of Thales Alenia Space Italy, principal investigator for the project.
Funded by Italy’s ASI space agency, POP3D should take about half an hour to produce a single plastic part, which will eventually be returned to Earth for detailed testing, including comparison with an otherwise identical part printed on the ground.
“There is big potential all along the value chain, to save cost and mass,” noted Reinhard Schlitt, heading OHB’s Engineering Services.
“But right now the way parts are being produced in various different ways. As a satellite manufacturer, we need common standards in place so we can compare competing supplier parts on a like-for-like basis.
“Europe does have a lead in this technology – the latest laser machines are coming from here for export to the US and China – so we should build on that.”
Steve Jurvetson made this model hobby rocket which has 3d printed stabilizing fins made from PLA. The rocket is small but it went supersonic at Mach 1.8! Maybe this is normal for this type of DIY rockets but it looks great to me!
Here are the specifications of two rockets shown in the video:
The first one is a a minimum diameter 38mm blue tube + golf ball nose + 3D-printed Makerbot fin can. The J270 takes this puppy from 0 to 1,363 MPH (Mach 1.8) in 2.6 seconds! According to RockSim, it topped out at 9,454 ft.
The second flight was a simpler Estes with D12 booster staging to a C6-7, with a Sharpie pen as upper nose cone/weight. The J-motor on left is 32x the D motor on right.
Here is the picture of the rocket, you can clearly see the fin can at the bottom with heart shapes:
Here is Steve's TED talk about this rocket build. Looks like Steve is a big guy in tech field:
Steve Jurvetson may be one of the most respected and successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, but he is also an avid rocket maker, traveling regularly to Nevada's Black Rock Desert to launch the latest iteration. Steve shares blast-off stories and some thoughts about where his "hobby" and his profession intersect. From the Bay Area Maker Faire 2014 Center Stage.
Space Invaders is a team of students with Rueben Pretorius, Mathew Whyte and Jared Rheeders as members. They were South African representatives on 11th World Robot Olympics at Sochi and won the 4th place in Junior High age group.
They developed mobile caterpillar tracked robotic 3d printer powered with LEGO EV3 controller and Arduino. The Delta 3 is a concept of Mars based construction robot that can 3d print buildings, machines and even itself since it is a RepRap.
One under-reported development in space 3d printing field is technology leap in 3d printed satellite parts with first 3d printed antenna array which will fly in space on several satellites:
Here are a few DIY projects for all you astronomy enthusiast out there which can be done with acces to 3d printer.
Ultrascope smartphone telescope
Ultrascope is a 3d printed telescope which uses Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone with high resolution camera to get pictures and light curves from space objects. Project is developed by James Parr from Open Space Agency.
All the information about function and construction of the Ultrascope are available at:
PiKon, the 3d printed telescope attachment for Raspberry Pi camera
PiKon is a low cost project where a 3d printed mount is used to attach Raspberry Pi camera to Newtonian reflector telescope to get 5MP resolution astrophotogaphs. Project was developed by University of Sheffield in cooperation with Alternative Photonics.
Printonian, the 3D printed DIY Dobsonian telescope
From Printonian project description:
This thing is a 3D printed Dobsonian telescope designed for an 8" primary mirror with a focal length of 48". The optical tube assembly consists of aluminum extrusions attached with 3D printed ribs designed for standard hardware and covered with cardboard tubing. The optical tube was mounted onto a base that was made from 3/4" baltic birch plywood cut on a CNC router. The bottom base plates are separated with plastic bearings to allow for control.
All the files, parts list and instructions can be found at:
Another example of how the space race will be won by young, innovators, DIY-rs and private companies with some help of 3d printing. Governments are slow and expensive. This project was developed with help of Solid Concepts.
University of Arizona students create and successfully launch a rocket made up with several 3D printed parts. 3D printed circuit mounts, electronic housing boxes, booster fins, aft body structure and tailcone all contributed to creating a streamline model that caught big attention from aerospace companies and won awards.
AMAZE is 20 million euro project financed by European Union FP7 program and coordinated by European Space Agency that wants to vastly improve European 3d printing and advanced metallurgy technology. NASA is sending 3d printer in space soon, so the Europeans will need to catch up and bridge the tehcnology gap in orbit.
In this video David Jarvis form ESA explains challenges and opportunities with 3d printing with metal in microgravity environment.
The overarching goal of AMAZE is to rapidly produce large defect-free additively-manufactured (AM) metallic components up to 2 metres in size, ideally with close to zero waste, for use in the following high-tech sectors namely: aeronautics, space, nuclear fusion, automotive and tooling.
Four pilot-scale industrial AM factories will be established and enhanced, thereby giving European manufacturers and end-users a world-dominant position with respect to AM production of high-value metallic parts, by 2016. A further aim is to achieve 50% cost reduction for finished parts, compared to traditional processing. The project will design, demonstrate and deliver a modular streamlined work-flow at factory level, offering maximum processing flexibility during AM, as well as a major reduction in non-added-value delays compared with conventional factories.
AMAZE will dramatically increase the commercial use of adaptronics, in-situ sensing, process feedback and novel post-processing in AM, so that:
overall quality levels are improved
dimensional accuracy is increased by 25%
build rates are increased by a factor of 10
industrial scrap rates are slashed to <5%
Scientifically, the critical links between alloy composition, powder/wire production, additive processing, microstructural evolution, defect formation, residual stress and the final properties of metallic AM parts will be fully examined and understood. This knowledge will be used to validate multi-level process models that can predict AM processes, part quality and performance.
In order to turn additive manufacturing into a mainstream industrial process, a sharp focus will also be drawn on pre-normative work, standardisation and certification, in collaboration with ISO, ASTM and ECSS standards bodies.
Here is an example of large scale prototyping for space industry. Large fuel tanks for satellite deployment were prototyped by RedEye saving lot of money and time.
From source post:
Validation of design In early 2012, Lockheed Martin SSC began looking at ways to improve and add value to their satellite design. The goal was to design a satellite that would make more efficient use of space and increase the satellite’s payload. It would require testing many assembly configurations and producing several simulators and prototypes to validate design changes. One change that needed to be validated was in the satellite’s fuel tanks. Before building the actual fuel tanks for final use, Lockheed would need to test form, fit and function and assembly with tank simulators. Producing test parts with traditional manufacturing methods would not be realistic given the deadline and costs. Machining the larger tank at 6.75’x3.8’x3.8’ and the second tank at 3.8’x3.8’x3.8’ would take over 6 months and around $250,000. The recent advancements in large-scale 3D printing motivated Lockheed to apply Stratasys’ Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) to the tank simulators. Lockheed Martin is no stranger to 3D printing technology. In fact, they are considered a 3D printing leader for aerospace applications and own several additive manufacturing machines. But this particular application, part size, post processing requirements and project deadline posed a challenge for their in-house capacity. The parts would have to be built in many pieces and bonded together, requiring an army of machines and a team of FDM finishing experts. That’s when they turned to RedEye’s aerospace team.
Constructing the tanks Lockheed Martin has partnered with RedEye over the last several years to manufacture parts and often comes to RedEye when size, material or machine capacity limit their in-house additive manufacturing systems. Lockheed knew RedEye would deliver high quality parts on time and offered the engineering thermoplastic and finishing processes required for the form, fit and function tests. “We chose RedEye because they have the machines and finishing capabilities to build tanks of this size,” said Andrew Bushell, senior manufacturing engineer at Lockheed Martin SSC. “We also decided to go with RedEye for their speed and engineering support we had received on past projects.” When the RedEye’s aerospace team received design files from Lockheed’s engineers, they were stunned with the size of the tanks. “These are the largest parts we’ve ever built using FDM,” said Joel Smith, the strategic account manager for aerospace and defense at RedEye. The project required many preliminary meetings between Lockheed and the RedEye team as it was the first time building a design of this magnitude. “We completed an extensive design review to determine the best orientation and slice height to ensure we could accurately build and bond the sections together in post processing and meet Lockheed’s dimensional requirements,” said Smith. RedEye landed on building the larger tank in 10 sections and the smaller tank in 6 sections in polycarbonate (PC) on the Fortus 900mcs. RedEye and Lockheed had to adapt and make adjustments to the plan along the way to meet tolerances. “We decided to alter the orientation of the exterior clocking rings that go around the tanks and increase their wall thicknesses to support inserts,” said Trevor Stolhanske, aerospace and defense project engineer at RedEye. Each section of the tanks took 150 hours to build, but even so, RedEye was able to build multiple sections at once, maximizing lead times and controlling costs. After all of the sections were complete, the support material was washed away and the sections were sent to finishing services for bonding. Because of their round shape and weight, the only way RedEye could successfully bond the tanks was to build customized fixtures to hold the sections while fusing pieces together. After several hours of welding each section together, RedEye sanded the tank seams and surfaces. After finishing, the tanks and rings were sent to Hutchinson Manufacturing, Inc. to be machined to the design’s critical dimensions. When RedEye received the tanks from Hutchinson, they added brass inserts to the rings and assembled the tanks per Lockheed’s specifications.
Final assembly “These tanks were built in a fraction of the time it would have taken with traditional manufacturing methods. Even with the machining process and design changes made along the way, we were able to deliver these parts ahead of schedule” said Smith. The tanks went through a number of quality assurance and accuracy measurements and were approved for the first concept assembly. Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Company performed form, fit and function testing as well as process development, in order to validate the proposed design changes. Next, Lockheed will take what they learned from the first phase and use the information to optimize the design and assembly to print the second iteration of tanks.
Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator's (LOHAN) Vulture 2 rocket powered spaceplane is near space aircraft lifted by helium balloon into high atmosphere. After release this 3d printed GPS guided spaceplane flies and lands powered by rocket engine to predesignated spot. Now, how cool is that?
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) University of California, San Diego created Tri-D Addittive manufactured (3D Printed) static fire system (aka working metal 3d printed rocket engine). Wow!
Kenneth Cheung and Neil Gershenfeld published a paper and are actively researching construction of large structures from small interlocking 3d printed modules (building blocks). The new material, the researchers say, could revolutionize the assembly of airplanes, spacecraft, and even larger structures, such as dikes and levees.
Yes yes, it can be used by robots to make spaceships in orbit, by I expect more of terrestrial appliances in near future (bridges, buildings etc.).
“The future of space exploration will change forever when everything we need for space is built in space. In this future, parts, habitats and structures are not launched and assembled, but instead 3D-printed, layer-by-layer in outer space with additive manufacturing.” – CEO, Aaron Kemmer
Here is the related TED talk:
3d printing will defeat Earths gravity.
Made In Space Company talk:
All the SF films from my childhood are turning into reality.
Update:
The printer is now delivered to ISS via SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule:
I'v blogged about 3d printed satellites HERE before, but PongSats are new project I found. Basically they are launching ping-pong ball sized nano satellites to the edge of space with helium balloons.
There were some articles floating around on 3d printing satellites but they lacked in many details, so I compiled some material on current state-of-play in the field. This post will be continuously updated with new developments.
Most of the 3d printing is related to Cubesat satellites. They are small (10X10X10 cm) picosatellites that are launched as auxiliary cargo on regular big scale launches.
3d printing is used in design / development phase or for printing working satellites support structure.
This study has found that a CubeSat can be developed to successfully incorporate the use of 3D printing manufacturing techniques into its design. This technology provides a potential cost savings of thousands of dollars, even for structures that would be simple to machine. Additional cost savings would be seen for very complex structures that would require advanced machining technology such as Electrical Discharge Machining to produce with aluminum. Using a Tyvak Nanosatellite Systems Intrepid system board at a cost of $3195 for the satellite avionics, it is conceivable that all the flight hardware for a CubeSat with a 3D printed structure could be procured for less than $5000. Not only do these materials provide the necessary strength to survive the rigorous testing and launch environments at a lower cost than machined aluminum, but they allow developers to be more creative with their satellites. Without any limitations from machinability, parts can be produced as they are imagined and new levels of optimization and functionality can be achieved. Further, extremely complex shapes, and even working mechanisms can be produced with 3D printing processes that cannot be manufactured with conventional machining. This allows designers create parts that require no post processing or assembly, streamlining the entire production process.
The university of Texas at El Paso’s W. M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation made advancements in 3d printed satellite sensors for their Trailblazer cubesat project (link).
Students of Montana State University plan to launch their amateur radio satellite PrintSat with nano carbon impregnated plastic by using a 3D printer.
Looks like the future of space exploration is 3d printed. :-)
Let me know if there are some other interesting projects in this area.
Update (12.5.2014.):
KySat2 Cubsat was developed and launched with 3d printed parts.
RedEye (a Stratasys company) in cooperation with JPL 3d printed functional antenna array for a satellite.
From the source:
Due to COSMIC-1’s success, U.S. agencies and Taiwan have been working on a follow-up project called FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 that will launch six satellites into orbit in late 2016 and another six in 2018. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed satellite technology to capture a revolutionary amount of radio occultation data from GPS and GLONASS that will benefit weather prediction models and research for years to come.
COSMIC-2 design and development began in 2011 at JPL. Critical components of the COSMIC-2 design are the actively steered, multi-beam, high gain phased antenna arrays capable of receiving the radio occultation soundings from space. The amount of science the COSMIC-2 can deliver is dependent on the custom antenna arrays. Traditionally, only large projects could afford custom antennas. COSMIC-2 was a medium size project that required 30 antennas so minimizing manufacturing costs and assembly time was essential.
A standard antenna array support design is traditionally machined out of astroquartz, an advanced composite material certified for outer space. The team knew building custom antenna arrays out of astroquartz would be time consuming and expensive because of overall manufacturing process costs (vacuum forming over a custom mold) and lack of adjustability (copper sheets are permanently glued between layers of astroquartz). The custom antenna design also contained complex geometries that would be difficult to machine and require multiple manufacturing, assembly and secondary operations, causing launch delays. JPL decided to turn to additive manufacturing technology to prototype and produce the antenna arrays.
The manufacturing chosen to build accurate, lightweight parts while maintaining the strength and load requirements for launch conditions was Stratasys’ Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). FDM could produce this complete structure as a single, ready-for-assembly piece. This would enable quick production of several prototypes for functional testing and the flight models for final spacecraft integration all at a low cost. FDM can also build in ULTEM 9085, a high strength engineering-grade thermoplastic, which has excellent radio frequency and structural properties, high temperature and chemical resistance and could be qualified for spaceflight.
Instead of purchasing an FDM machine to produce the parts internally, JPL turned to RedEye, one of Stratasys’ additive manufacturing service centers with the largest FDM capacity in the world and project engineering experts who have experience with the aerospace industry and its requirements.
The antenna array support structures were optimized and patented for the FDM process. All shapes were designed with an “overhead angle” of 45 degrees at most to avoid using break-away ULTEM support material during the build. “Designing the antennas with self-supporting angles helped with two things,” said Trevor Stolhanske, aerospace and defense project engineer at RedEye, “it reduced machine run time so that parts printed faster, and reduced the risk of breaking any parts during manual support removal.” JPL was also able to combine multiple components into one part, which minimized technician assembly and dimensions verification time and costs.
Although FDM ULTEM 9085 has been tested for in-flight components, it had never been used on the exterior of an aircraft, let alone in space. Therefore, in addition to standard functional testing (i.e. antenna beam pattern, efficiency, and impedance match), FDM ULTEM 9085 and the parts had to go through further testing in order to meet NASA class B/B1 flight hardware requirements.
Some of these tests included:
Susceptibility to UV radiation
Susceptibility to atomic oxygen
Outgassing (CVCM index was measured to be 0 percent)
Thermal properties tests – in particular, compatibility with aluminum panels. (Aluminum has a slightly different coefficient of thermal expansion than non-glass-filled ULTEM)
Vibration / Acoustic loads standard to the launch rocket
Compatibility with S13G white paint and associated primer
ULTEM 9085’s properties met all required qualification tests, proving the antennas are space-worthy. However, the highly reactive oxygen atoms present at the operating height of the satellite could degrade the plastic. To protect against oxygen atoms and ultraviolet radiation, ULTEM was tested for compatibility and adhesion with some of NASA’s protective, astronautical paints. In this case, S13G high emissivity protective paint was chosen to form a glass-like layer on the plastic structure and reflect a high percentage of solar radiation, optimizing thermal control of the antenna operating conditions.
From March 2012 – April 2013, RedEye produced 30 antenna array structures for form, fit and function testing. Throughout each design revision, RedEye’s project engineering team worked closely with JPL to process their STL files to ensure the parts met exact tolerances and to minimize secondary operations. RedEye’s finishing department deburred the parts where needed, stamped each with an identification number and included a material test coupon. They also reamed holes for fasteners that attach to the aluminum honeycomb panel and the small channels throughout the cones to the precise conducting wire diameter.
“Not only did NASA JPL save time and money by producing these antenna arrays with FDM, they validated the technology and material for the exterior of a spacecraft, paving the way for future flight projects” said Joel Smith, strategic account manager for aerospace and defense at RedEye. “This is a great example of an innovative organization pushing 3D printing to the next level and changing the way things are designed.”
As of 2014, the COSMIC-2 radio occultation antennas and FDM ULTEM 9085 are at NASA Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6). RedEye was able to successfully enter the JPL Approved Supplier List and delivered 30 complete antennas for final testing and integration. The launch of the initial six satellites is scheduled for 2016. Another constellation will launch in 2018. The FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 mission will operate exterior, functional 3D printed parts in space for the first time in history.
Here is a video of phased array antenna being printed:
Here is a picture of a satellite with the antenna being on lower right side of the spacecraft, shaped like a plate with 12 cylinders:
Update (26.1.2015.):
3d printed parts are also used in prototyping and final space going version of French CNES satellite EyeSat. Parts were printed by Sculpteo and parts probably going to space are sunvisor and four fixture elements.
PrintTheBus is the first 3D printed aluminum CubeSat project that aims to get to lunar orbit with citizen experiments! They are competing in NASA's CubeQuest Challenge. Thy also started KS campaign:
Sciaky, major EBAM industrial 3d printer maker announced a partnership with Lockheed Martin to produce titanium propellant tanks for satellites. Because of the welding techniques implemented by the EBAM system, which allows for the size and speeds possible with the technology, intensive post-processing is necessary to bring parts to specification but the benefits are amazing.
Update (22.8.2015.):
Made In Space and NanoRacks want to 3d print cubesats in space.
Update (13.1.2016.): NASA selected Aerojet Rocketdyne to mature 3D printed MPS-130 CubeSat propulsion system. Now we will have 3d printed satellites with 3d printed propulsion systems.
System description:
MPS-130™ CubeSat High-Impulse Adaptable Modular Propulsion System (CHAMPS) is a 1U AF-M315E (low-toxicity propellant) propulsion system that provides both primary propulsion and 3-axis control capabilities in a single package. The system is designed for CubeSat customers needing significant ΔV capabilities including constellation deployment, orbit maintenance, attitude control, momentum management, and de-orbit.
Dimensions: 10 cm x 10 cm x 11.35 cm
Mass: <1.3 kg Dry, <1.6 kg Wet
Operational Temperature Range: +5°C to +50°C
Command Method: Digital or Discreet Analog 5V
Power Consumption: <TBD W Startup, <TBD W Operation
Operational Voltage: 5 V Nominal
BOL Thrust: TBD N (high thrust) to TBD N (low thrust) per thruster
Minimum Impulse Bit (at blowdown-averaged feed pressure): TBD to TBD N-sec per thruster
NASA will use a 3d printed bracket on their ICESat-2 made from Stratasys Polyetherketoneketone (PEKK). PEKK is a new material that can be used in space since it is resistant to extreme environments and electrostatically dissipative, preventing the static electricity build-up to protect sensitive electronics. The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 satellite will be launched in 2018.
Update (05.03.2016.): Made In Space, a company known for first NASA space-based 3d printer wants to 3d print satellite parts in orbit with their Archinaut technology.
ESA is testing 3d printed antenna for future space applications. It is copper plated with a special process.
From the source:
A prototype 3D-printed antenna being put to work in ESA’s Compact Antenna Test Facility, a shielded chamber for antenna and radio-frequency testing. “This is the Agency’s first 3D-printed dual-reflector antenna,” explains engineer Maarten van der Vorst, who designed it. “Incorporating a corrugated feedhorn and two reflectors, it has been printed all-in-one in a polymer, then plated with copper to meet its radio-frequency (RF) performance requirements. “Designed for future mega-constellation small satellite platforms, it would need further qualification to make it suitable for real space missions, but at this stage we’re most interested in the consequences on RF performance of the low-cost 3D-printing process.” “Although the surface finish is rougher than for a traditionally manufactured antenna, we’re very happy with the resulting performance,” says antenna test engineer Luis Rolo. “We have a very good agreement between the measurements and the simulations. Making a simulation based on a complete 3D model of the antenna leads to a significant increase in its accuracy. “By using this same model to 3D print it in a single piece, any source of assembly misalignments and errors are removed, enabling such excellent results.” Two different antennas were produced by Swiss company SWISSto12, employing a special copper-plating technique to coat the complex shapes. “As a next step, we aim at more complex geometries and target higher frequencies,” adds Maarten, a member of ESA’s Electromagnetics & Space Environment Division. “And eventually we want to build space-qualified RF components for Earth observation and science instruments.” Based at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the test range is isolated from outside electromagnetic radiation while its inside walls are covered with ‘anechoic’ foam to absorb radio signals, simulating infinite space.
Update (15.04.2016.): Tomsk Polytechnic University from Russia developed and 3d printed the hull of the micro-satellite "Tomsk-TPU-120" which will be deployed in space.
From the source:
Somewhere aboard Russia’s space vehicle Progress MS-02, among the 2.5 tonnes of cargo, is the 3D printed Tomsk-TPU-120 microsatellite, which was designed and manufactured by the Tomsk Polytechnic University. The cargo ship has just successfully separated from the Soyuz-2.1a space rocket, and is making its way to the ISS astronauts. The microsatellite is equipped with a 3D printed hull, while most of the other satellite parts and components were 3D printed in plastic material as well. The microsatellite, which measures just about 300 x 100 x 100 mm in size, also contains an electric battery unit, which reportedly has made use of 3D printing with zirconium for the first time ever. The microsatellite will also contain a number of sensors, which will record temperature fluctuation data from the satellite, as well as how its components function during these fluctuations, and send the data back down to Earth to help us better understand manufacturing for conditions in outer space.
Thales Alenia Space and Poly-Shape SAS have built Europe’s largest qualified 3D printed metal parts for satellites using a Concept Laser 3D printer which measure a 447 x 204.5 x 391 mm but weigh just 1.13 kg. The laser-sintered antenna supports, which took six days to print from AISi7Mg alloy, will be used on the Koreasat-5A and 7 satellites, due to go to into orbit in 2017. It is 20% lighter and 30% cheaper to manufacture compared to the standard process.
Space Systems Loral announced March 7 that its most complex additively manufactured part, an antenna tower with 37 printed titanium nodes and more than 80 graphite struts, is performing as intended in orbit on SKY Perfect JSAT’s JCSAT-110A satellite launched in December. “Our advanced antenna tower structures enable us to build high-performance satellites that would not be possible without tools such as 3D printing,” Matteo Genna, chief technology officer and vice president of product strategy and development at SSL, said in SSL’s announcement. SSL is now using the same strut-truss design methodology on other satellites it is building. That includes 13 structures SSL is designing and manufacturing. SSL is putting hundreds of 3D printed titanium structural components on its satellites per year, according to the firm’s announcement.
Australia has first satellites in space after 15 years and they are cubesats made with 3d printed thermoplastic structure. UNSW-EC0 was deployed from the ISS from a Nanoracks launcher, a "cannon" that eject cubesats at a height of 380 km (the same as the ISS), allowing them to drift down to a lower orbit where they can begin their thermosphere measurements.
Here is a nice example how LibreCAD and 3d printing were used in the development of cubesat that uses open source technologies. UPSat was successfully deployed in space.
This project describes a design study for a core module on a NASA Lunar South Pole outpost, constructed by 3D printing technology with the use of in-situ resources and equipped with a bio-regenerative life support system. The module would be a hybrid of deployable (CLASS II) and in-situ built (CLASS III) structures. It would combine deployable membrane structures and pre-integrated rigid elements with a sintered regolith shell for enhanced radiation and micrometeorite shielding. The closed loop ecological system would support a sustainable presence on the Moon with particular focus on research activities. The construction method for SinterHab is based on 3D printing by sintering of the lunar regolith. Sinterator robotics 3D printing technology proposed by NASA JPL enables construction of future generations of large lunar settlements with little imported material and the use of solar energy. The regolith is processed, placed and sintered by a the Sinterator robotics system which combines the NASA ATHLETE and the Chariot remotely controlled rovers. Microwave sintering creates a rigid structure in the form of walls, vaults and other architectural elements. The interior is coated with a layer of inflatable membranes inspired by the TransHab project.
