3D Printing

Students to Make History with 3D Printed Rocket Engine

When it comes to 3D printing space rockets, why should the big boys have all the fun? NASA, SpaceX, ESA, and CASTC are just a few of the government and commercial space manufacturing giants who have had the funds and facilities to explore this new way of making space rockets. Metal 3D Printing is too expensive for just anybody to build their own rocket. Or is it?

3d-printed-vulcan-1-engine

Undergraduate students at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) certainly don’t think so. Late in 2013, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) at UCSD grabbed headlines by hot-fire testing a 3D printed rocket. Mentored and assisted by faculty at UCSD and advisers at NASA, the students designed the Tri-D rocket in just eight months and developed with only $6,800. Building on the success of the Tri-D, the students are now going one step further this year. Not only are they building a bigger and better rocket engine called the Vulcan-1, but as part of SEDS, it could be the first rocket powered by a 3D printed engine to be launched by a student organization!

seds ucsd 3D printed vulcan 1 rocket engine

In a way, it is 3D printing that has opened up a path for the ambition and efforts of these students to come to fruition. As they state in their mission, “Vulcan-1 is a rocket engine that is made entirely through 3D printing, which dramatically reduces the time and cost of production while maintaining a level of quality that is comparable to engines made through traditional processes. Getting to space is expensive. Vulcan-1hopes to lay the groundwork for removing this barrier to a space fairing civilization. By reducing the costs associated with getting to space, 3D printing creates the opportunity for increased space travel, exploration, and development. Much of the costs come from logistics of material processing and production. By utilizing additive manufacturing, time from design to proof of concept is dramatically reduced and would allow companies to do much of the fabrication in-house. It’s not only because we are a group of undergraduate students designing a liquid fueled rocket engine with 750 lbs of thrust that makes this project unique; it’s how we are building it. The very fact that students can design, print, and test a 3D printed rocket engine at a professional level is revolutionary.”

3D printed vulcan 1 rocket engine test fire

They 3D printed the 8-in diameter engine using direct metal laser sintering of Iconel 718 (a nickel chromium alloy) with help from GPI Prototype Inc and NASA, and successfully hot fire tested it in the Mojave Desert in California. The next step is where they needed the public’s help to make history.

3D printed vulcan 1 rocket engine by ucsd students

To raise the $15,000 they required to produce the rocket body for the Vulcan-1, they launched a Kickstarter campaign. They still have 20 days to go, but they have already surpassed their goal comfortably. These undergraduates really are doing something revolutionary, so it’s difficult to see why anybody would hold back on trying to be a part of it in their own small way. Those willing to donate a significant amount get the opportunity to have their name printed onto the actual rocket body and even the injector plate.

students 3D printed vulcan 1 rocket engine

They will be launching the Vulcan-1 rocket in June at Green River, Utah and hope to reach 10,000 feet. There is something special about this, too. If they reach that height, they will also hold the record for the highest flight of a rocket powered by a 3D printed engine. All in a year’s work for these students! If this is not A+ material right here, I don’t know what is. To find out more about their amazing work, visit here.