3DCeram Sinto has been awarded a contract by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for its C1000 FLEXMATIC Ceramic 3D printer.
3DCeram has also become an official partner of NASA, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which awarded the contract in collaboration with Jacobs Space Exploration Group.
The 3D printer will be used to fabricate ceramic material samples which will be tested in space and other extreme environments.
The first test parts are set to be 3D printed immediately as part of NASA’s Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) program. Through this project, material samples will be attached to the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) to assess their performance and durability in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
3DCeram will 3D print 20 sample parts at its Grand Ledge facility which will be launched to the ISS next year.
This will form part of the evaluation process for ceramics that could one day be used on the outer surface of spacecraft. Once the materials have been characterized in LEO, the company believes flight-worthy hot structures and heat shields could be produced using the C1000 FLEXMATIC.
NASA adopts 3DCeram’s ceramic 3D printing technology
Launched in 2022, the C1000 FLEXMATIC is a stereolithography (SLA) ceramic 3D printer designed to meet the industrial challenges of large-scale production.
The system is optimized for serial production applications and has been designed for easy integration into a semi-automated production workflow. This is thanks to its removable tank, which allows for in-line processing of 3D printed parts.
Featuring a build volume of 320 x 320 x 200 mm, the ceramic 3D printer will enable NASA to 3D print both large-scale, fully dense parts and high-volume production runs of smaller components.
In an interview at Formnext 2023, Maxence Bourjol, 3DCerams’s Sales Manager, stated that “you can easily have hundreds of [small] parts on the printing platform” in a single production run.
Through the MISSE program, 3DCeram’s 3D printed samples will be attached to the exterior of the ISS for six months. This will help NASA gain a deeper understanding of how ceramic materials withstand space conditions.
In particular, the testing will demonstrate the effects of harsh in-space environmental exposures, such as zero gravity and unabated radiation from the sun.
3D printing space-ready parts
NASA is a long-time adopter of additive manufacturing technology, heavily utilizing 3D printing to produce space-ready parts. Last year, the organization successfully tested a 3D printed rocket engine nozzle as part of its Reactive Additive Manufacturing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or RAMFIRE, project.
NASA engineers from the Marshall Space Flight Center developed the 3D printed RAMFIRE nozzle in collaboration with material developer Elementum 3D. The partners created a weldable aluminum material with heat-resistant properties required for use on rocket engines. According to NASA, the new nozzle is lighter than conventionally manufactured counterparts, facilitating deep space missions that carry heavier payloads.
Elsewhere, French metal 3D printing specialist AddUp collaborated with Airbus Defence & Space to develop a metal 3D printer for space applications. Produced under a European Space Agency (ESA) contract, it will be used to evaluate additive manufacturing capabilities and performance in sustained microgravity conditions.
The 3D printer was launched to the ISS by NASA Mission NG-20 on January 30, 2024, and is undergoing testing aboard the Station’s Columbus module.
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Featured image shows a C1000 FLEXMATIC 3D printer. Photo via 3DCeram.
