The aim is to make the Huracán engine reusable and refuelable in orbit with bio-methane and oxygen.
The Exploration Company, a European spacecraft manufacturer, develops, and operates the Nyx space capsule for space agencies and space stations as well as both space and non-space companies in other industries.
To manufacture spacecraft components, the company will use TRUMPF’s metal 3D printers to produce core components of the Huracán and Mistral engines for the Nyx Earth and Nyx Moon spacecraft in Planegg near Munich.
If you’re a reader of 3D ADEPT Media, you may be familiar with TRUMPF’s extensive expertise in metal 3D printing. The machine manufacturer focuses on the entire process chain to further enhance productivity. A key success to achieving true productivity lies in improving the process speed of its 3D printers.
While no information has been given yet on the specific 3D printer that will be used as part of the Exploration Company’s project, TRUMPF confirms that their selection will help save valuable raw materials. The systems only use the material that will ultimately fly into space unlike conventional manufacturing methods such as stamping, forging and casting where much of the material ended up as waste.
“With our 3D printing technology, we are driving the commercialization of the space-travel industry. If you want to be successful in the space-travel industry today, you have to use additive manufacturing,” says Tobias Brune, who is responsible for the additive manufacturing business at TRUMPF. Designers use additive manufacturing to combine entire assemblies into a single component. This saves weight and reduces complexity. Every gram saved reduces fuel costs. What’s more, the less complex components reduce the cost of safety tests before the rocket launch and increase the probability of a successful mission in space.
The aim is to make the Huracán engine reusable and refuelable in orbit with bio-methane and oxygen.
“Our aim is to offer space missions more cost-effectively than was previously possible. Our spacecraft can benefit from TRUMPF’s manufacturing and application expertise. TRUMPF has decades of experience in the production of high-precision components,” says Hélène Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company.
The start-up plans to send a space capsule to orbit the earth for several months in an initial mission in 2026. Starting in 2028, further missions are planned to go to the moon. The spacecraft will initially carry freight, but in the long term, people will also fly on board.
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