
A 3D Metal Printer Is Churning Out Rockets - sohkamyung
https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/the-worlds-largest-3d-metal-printer-is-churning-out-rockets
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roca
Too bad they don't mention the competition that is also using 3D printing, and
is in fact quite far ahead of them. Rocket Lab has been flying 3D-printed
engines for years.

I understand why a regular PR piece wouldn't mention the competition, but this
is IEEE Spectrum which is supposed to be better than that.

~~~
jkilpatr
> is in fact quite far ahead of them

This is like saying that AWS doesn't matter because people have been hosting
servers for decades. It's technically correct but misses the entire point.

SpaceX and RocketLab do print parts, but they still need assembly lines with
hard to source machines and skilled labor. RocketLab is working on reusability
not because of cost savings but because they are assembly line constrained.

[https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-
announc...](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-announces-
reusability-plans-for-electron-rocket/)

> we’re now establishing the reusability program to further increase launch
> frequency,” says Mr. Beck.

That's a jaw-dropping statement, it's easier and faster to develop reusability
as a way to get more cores than to build a new assembly line.

Relativity is printing out entire rockets, only stacking required. New
assembly line is entirely contained in a new printer, constrained on upper
stages? Just retask a printer no multi-year long lead time to build up a new
set of traditional tools. Don't need any more rockets right now? Print planes
instead. The list of advantages goes on.

I'll suggest this interview with Relativity space.
[https://www.wemartians.com/episode062/](https://www.wemartians.com/episode062/)

You may also be interested in this one about another company looking to print
solar panel arrays on orbit.
[https://mainenginecutoff.com/podcast/131](https://mainenginecutoff.com/podcast/131)

~~~
disordinary
Rocket lab though uses less metal and has carbon fibre chassis, fuel tanks,
etc. They 3d print their engines which is the main metal part of the ship.

The constraint may be in autoclaves as carbon fibre is a more intensive
product to make than just 3d printing or bending metal.

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corodra
Looks like an aluminum welder on a robotic arm.

Not discounting it, because I think the simplicity of doing it that way is
brilliant for plenty of parts. Plus, I bet there was plenty of trial and error
to get the timing and gas settings right for something like this. Got to give
them credit there. Aluminum welding is a bitch (I suck at it). So, I'm not
trying to rain on their parade... but a quick google search is showing they're
not alone. To be fair, I think they might be doing it better though...
especially when it comes to scale. A few minutes in, I don't see anything near
to their scale, which is cool.

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bumby
> Relativity has in-house metallurgists who are honing the process, ensuring
> that our components meet the strict quality standards for aerospace
> hardware.

My understanding is that much of the cost of flight materials is
ensuring/maintaining the quality pedigree. I would have liked to see more
detail into the ways quality changes with a new manufacturing process. E.g.,
are certain non-destructive evaluation techniques necessary? Are inspections
capable of being automated?

------
russdill
Great Real Engineering video with a lot of discussion of the issues with
material properties, crystalline structure, and fatigue cracks related to
metalized 3d printing:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzBRYsiyxjI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzBRYsiyxjI)

~~~
Gravityloss
Currently, one would expect to filament wind all the tanks, intertank and nose
out of carbon fiber.

You can buy off the shelf machines for that.

It's used widely for solid rockets, where the internal pressure is very high.

I don't know why not for pump fed liquid rockets, maybe the design being
buckling limited makes the approach worse.

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versteegen
It's oft said that Relativity Space is a 3D-printing company; that's the hard
problem they're solving. Launching satellites into space is a side-show.

~~~
Robotbeat
If the problem they're solving is harder than "just" launching satellites into
space, then that doesn't bode well for their chances of success.

Just launching stuff into orbit, or attempting that, has swallowed many
companies in failure.

~~~
Teever
Not necessarily. If they can solve the issues with 3d printing then they can
potentially have a cheaper, faster, and more versatile production methodology
which can result in faster iterations to solve the issues that they face with
the actual launch process.

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magoon
When this technology can exist in space, earth will have orbiting shipyards
building space craft.

~~~
imglorp
Is this assuming some of the materials are available there? This would make
sense if you're getting fuel or metal from asteroids, moon's surface, etc and
building ships near those. But in Earth orbit, you'll need to lift the
shipyard, then the fuel, then the metal powder etc for sintering, so what
would be the gain?

~~~
mkl
Yes, you'd probably want to go get some asteroids. Even small ones can contain
huge amounts of metals, and icy ones could be turned into fuel. There's a lot
of potential, but it's all a bit out of reach for the moment.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining)

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Isn't moon dust mostly bauxite? (oxidized aluminum)

~~~
ben_w
Wikipedia looks like it says [0], by elemental concentration, roughly 42%
oxygen, 21% silicon, 12% iron, 8% calcium, 7% aluminium, 6% magnesium, 4%
other.

[0] Bar graph with insufficient labels:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Composition_of_lunar_so...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Composition_of_lunar_soil.svg)

~~~
imglorp
Magnesium should be even better for some space apps. In fact, it would sinter
better in a vacuum than air.

[https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/sintering-of-
magnesium-h06...](https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/sintering-of-
magnesium-h06EgJZS7r)

------
tmikaeld
Rockets are really neat, but to me this says a lot more about how far robot
manufacturing has come and where we're going.

~~~
phaedrus
I'm eagerly anticipating the day when hobbyists can 3-D print engine blocks
and cylinder heads. Imagine the engine swaps enthusiasts will come up with
when they can make their own designs from scratch and share high-performance
designs as open source hardware. It will also be a boon to people restoring
antique cars, the ability to print a new period-correct engine block.

~~~
crispyambulance
It's getting there, but the dimensional tolerance and finish for something
like an engine block isn't something 3D printing can do yet-- or ever.

It might be OK for many parts (like the manifolds) but some parts will
_always_ need to be finished by traditional machining operations.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyYcomX7Lus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyYcomX7Lus)

~~~
mechagodzilla
I'm not sure if that's what this one is doing specifically, but there are
metal additive-manufacturing machines out there that are 'hybrids' where they
can print and mill as they go to effectively make 3d-printed parts with very
good tolerance / surface finish. So they _do_ get finished with traditional
machining operations, it's just done as its being printed out.

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synaesthesisx
Relativity Space is one of the aerospace companies I'm most excited about
(especially in regards to whatever they pull off in the 3D printed launch
vehicle space)!

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swagasaurus-rex
I am unfamiliar with material sciences. Are 3d printed metals as structurally
sound as other techniques for metallurgy?

~~~
deepnotderp
DMLS is generally within 80% iirc. This appears to be a bit different in terms
of technology, but I don't see why it should be significantly off. Both Rocket
Lab and SpaceX have been flying 3D printed rocket parts for a while now.

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choonway
3D printing is only one aspect of the solution. And that isn't the real
problem yet (ha ha..)

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not_a_cop75
How's the 3d printing landscape for metal overall? I hear there have been made
great strides in 3d printers that rely on sintering. Very affordable
relatively speaking.

Any other methods that have gained traction?

