China3D printingNet February 26th, British aerospace company Orbex has commissioned AMCM (the company produces customized additive manufacturing machines) under the EOS Group to manufacture Europe’s largest industry3D printingTo enable Orbex to quickly print rocket engines in-house.
This multi-million pound transaction will enable AMCM to provide a complete printing kit with post-processing machinery and “machine vision” systems, which will help to print more than 35 large rocket engines and main stage turbopump systems each year. These components will be a key part of Orbex’s 19-meter-long “mini launcher” rocket, which is designed to send small satellites into the Earth’s polar orbit.
Orbex CEO Chris Larmour said: “Although our rocket engines and other critical systems have undergone years of large-scale internal3D printingSystem testing is quite mature, but as we increase production, our speed and agility have greatly improved, which means we can continue to iterate and further improve performance. In the long run, as we are ready to make multiple releases per year, it will allow us to better control costs and supply chain. “
AMCM Managing Director Martin Bullemer (left) and Orbex CEO Chris Larmour (right). Filmed by AMCM.
Orbex’s Prime Rocket
Orbex plans to launch the Prime launch vehicle from its spaceport on the A’Mhoine Peninsula in Sutherland, Scotland, and the spacecraft received planning permission in August 2020. Since construction will begin this year, the A’Mhoine base is currently the only British spaceport that has obtained planning permission and will begin its first orbital launch in 2022.
Prime rocket uses clean-burning renewable fuel biopropane as fuel. Compared with the kerosene-based fuel used in most commercial rockets, this product can reduce CO2 emissions by 90%. Designed to be reusable, once launched, the rocket will not leave any debris in the earth orbit, and has a novel recovery and reusable system.
Orbex was launched in 2015 and initially operated in stealth mode when it was dedicated to launching a series of commercial CubeSats into orbit. The company suddenly appeared in 2018 after announcing that it had raised 30 million pounds (40 million US dollars) in funding. Orbex has previously worked with German Metals3D printingMachine manufacturer SLM Solutions collaborated to develop its3D printingRocket engine, which is expected to become the “world’s largest” engine in 2019.
Orbex’s Stage 2 Prime rocket. Picture from Orbex.
Large rocket parts printing
In the past few months, Orbex has conducted a series of experiments with AMCM to print a series of large rocket parts because it hopes to expand its launch production capacity.
“After exhaustive testing, the results we saw from AMCM were very successful, and we believe that we have chosen the right partner.” Lamore confirmed.
AMCM will be custom built and installed in Orbex’s factory. The two companies claim to be Europe’s largest industry3D printingThe plant will be expanded by 1,000 square meters to accommodate these machines.Millions of pounds3D printingThe system will include post-processing machines and “machine vision” systems that will perform image-based automatic inspections of printed rocket components.
In order to eliminate the weaknesses that may be caused by connecting and welding parts together, Orbex’s rocket engine parts will be printed in one piece. Components will be printed using custom metal blends including titanium and aluminum to ensure that the system is lightweight and durable enough to withstand the extreme temperatures and pressures of the space shuttle.AMCM Managing Director Martin Bullemer said: “Investing in such a large3D printingThe system fully demonstrates Orbex’s ambitions in the field of European flight.If they want to lead the European market, they need a large3D printingThe system can bring them production reliability and speed. Although this is a major purchase, it will carry out major cost control for Orbex in the next few years. “
Orbex estimates that the new printing system will provide more than 35 rocket engines and turbopump systems each year, and as the first system to be launched from the new A’Mhoine space hub, it may be the first to successfully launch a commercial rocket from the UK System to the track.
Rocket manufacturing company Relativity Space is a leader in this field. The company’s ultimate goal is to produce “the world’s first full3D printingRockets.” After setting up a new headquarters at the Aerospace Community Center in Long Beach, California, the company was ordered to provide for the upcoming NASA experimental mission.3D printingProjectile. Since then, Relativity Space has signed another contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to launch several small satellites into low Earth orbit through its Terran 1 rocket in 2022.
Elsewhere, the California-based aerospace company Rocket Lab3D printingElectron Rocket entered the final test before the company is about to carry out its mission with the US Space Force, and the US startup Rocket Crafters has completed its Comet series hybrid3D printingRocket engine testing.
Earlier this month, Indian aerospace startup Agnikul successfully tested its semi-cryogenic rocket engine, which claimed to be the first one-time pass.3D printingThe engine is carried out as a single component. The production cost of the engine is only one-tenth of the traditional manufacturing method, and printing can be completed in less than four days.
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