First metal part manufactured by 3D printing in space

September 6 () –

An ESA instrument has succeeded for the first time in 3D printing a metal component in space. Until now, 3D printing on the International Space Station was limited to plastic.

The technology demonstrator, built by Airbus and its partners, was launched to the International Space Station earlier this year, where ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen installed the payload into the European box of ESA’s Columbus module. In August, the printer successfully printed the first metal 3D shape in space.

This product, along with three others planned for the remainder of the experiment, will return to Earth for quality analysis.

The printer works Using a type of stainless steel commonly used in medical implants and water treatment due to its good corrosion resistance.

Stainless steel wire is fed into the printing area, which is heated by a high-power laser, about a million times more powerful than an average laser pointer. As the wire is dipped into the melt bath, the end of the wire is melted and then metal is added to the print.

AUTONOMY FOR LONG-TERM MISSIONS

As exploration of the Moon and Mars increases in mission duration and distance from Earth, resupplying spacecraft will become more difficult.

Additive manufacturing in space will give autonomy to the mission and its crew, offering a solution to manufacture the necessary parts, repair equipment or build specific tools, on demand during the mission, instead of depending on resupply and redundancies, ESA reports.