ESA

The ESA Explores 3D Printing on Earth and Beyond

Sometimes when a new technology leaves the laboratory, it goes off to perform its functions in an industrial setting, research facility, or educational institute. Sometimes, though, its installation may be…

3D Printed Hydroponics Part of Large-Scale Space Travel Simulation

There’s been a lot of talk lately about traveling to the moon, Mars or both. 3D printing has a lot to do with every stage of the planned journey into…

ESA and MTC Team Up to Open Additive Manufacturing Benchmark Centre

3D printing is nothing new to the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA, after all, was the agency to propose building a 3D printed base on the moon, and regularly…

A PEEK into Space: ESA’s Newest CubeSats Feature 3D Printed Electrically Conductive Bodies

The European Space Agency (ESA) has long been a fan of 3D printing, successfully testing a 3D printed platinum alloy rocket combustion chamber in 2015, announcing on more than one occasion…

3D Printing Launches George Watson’s College to Victory in ESA CanSat Competition

You’ve likely heard of CubeSats, but what about CanSats? The CubeSat’s smaller cousin is a satellite that, yes, fits in a can, and it’s used mostly for educational purposes. While,…

ESA 3D Prints Sturdy Bricks from Sunlight and Moon Dust

In the future, we will live in houses made from sunlight and moon dust. Sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale, doesn’t it? It could be reality for some…

Tiny 3D Printed Structures from Simulated Martian Soil Could Be a Preview of Bigger Things to Come

Mars is a big topic of conversation right now among aerospace agencies, tech companies, governments, and just about anyone with any interest in space – which is most people, as…

ESA Artist in Residence Envisions the Spiritual Center of the Moon, and It’s 3D Printed

Near the south pole of the moon, where the sun is low in the sky, one deep crater, stretching 4.2 km down into the lunar soil, is in perpetual darkness. In…

ESA Opens New Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory for Study of 3D Printing, Other Advanced Technologies in Space Missions

All eyes have been on NASA lately, with the July 4th arrival of the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter’s orbit making international (perhaps interplanetary?!) news. Like nearly all of NASA’s endeavors nowadays,…

Lunar 3D Printing as Pitstop to Life on Mars

According to the head of the European Space Agency, it will be at least 15 years before we can expect humans aboard a flight to Mars. The US space agency NASA is…

ESA Meets Again to Discuss Moon Colonization—3D Printing & Robotics Will Be Key

3D printing has, over the years, become connected to space travel in countless ways; in fact, entities like NASA were using the technology before most of us even had an…

Project Orion: NASA’s Mission to Mars Relies on Designs of Past & Future, Powered by 3D Printing

Have you ever noticed that children, upon being asked what they want to do when they grow up, often respond with the most difficult professions possibly attainable? It all seems…

ESA Taps BEEVERYCREATIVE to Help Develop a 3D Printing Breadboard for the ISS

In the past few years 3D printing has slowly but surely begun transforming the aerospace industry. It started simply enough, with prototyping and testing, and then developed into the development…

Editor’s Choice: 15 of the Coolest 3D Printing Stories of 2015

2015 has been quite a year. Personally, I’ve loved it; I got married, bought a house, hit a milestone birthday, and became editor-in-chief of this great site. I’m almost sad…

European Space Agency Reiterates Its Plan to Build 3D Printed Base on the Moon

For a while, the European Space Agency has been talking about the possibility of creating a base on the moon, using 3D printing for a large part of its construction. So…

European Space Agency Releases New 3D Images of Comet 67P

I remember the first time I saw a comet. People had been talking about the upcoming appearance of the comet Hale-Bopp for days; it was expected to be the brightest,…

European Space Agency Signs on with Streago AirSpace for 3D Printing Cloud Service

The increasing complexity of additive manufacturing workflows have created a demand for systems capable of handling ever expanding requirements, and now Streago says their secure, industrial, cloud-based 3D printing business and…

3D Printed Monolithic Ceramic Thruster for Rocket Engine Survives Hot Fire Testing

Space and advanced technology certainly go hand-in-hand, and additive manufacturing is certainly taking its place among the stars. Well–at least near-space. We’ve seen developments in AM techniques lead to prototypes…

European Space Agency Successfully Tests 3D Printed Platinum Alloy Rocket Combustion Chamber

It marks the first time a platinum combustion chamber and nozzle made with 3D printing have been tested under realistic, demanding conditions, and the developers, Airbus Defence & Space, built…

SWISSto12 & ESA Partner to Continue Development of Lightweight 3D Printed Satellite Antennas

As with most new highly progressive technologies that seem to leap onto the scene out of nowhere, lighting the world afire with new products, materials, and inventions–it takes a while for them…

3D Printed Espresso Cup Used in Space For First Time on the ISS

The is no doubt that both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are at the forefront of 3D printing technology. After all, the technology could be one of the…

Dublin’s Trinity College Receives Funding from ESA to Develop Cold Spray 3D Printing Technology

When you think of Ireland, you might think of leprechauns, tall glasses of Guinness beer, and thick wool sweaters. You most certainly think of the color green. But what about…

ESA Announces Plans to Send Their Own POP3D 3D Printer to the International Space Station

As mentioned in an article published earlier in the day about a mobile 3D printer created by three South African students, which they hope will one day be able to…

ESA Releases New Video Concept and Dialogue On How to 3D Print Moon Bases

When people find out that I write about 3D printing, if they have the frivolity to dismiss the technology as inconsequential, my go-to example is always space. While 3D printing…