European Space Agency

International Consortium Delivers New Microgravity 3D Printer Prototype to European Space Agency

The majority of our planet is on a race to the outer regions of space, and it’s a well-known fact now that 3D printing can help us remain there for…

Airbus and IBM Developing a 3D Printed Robot Named CIMON to Support Astronauts on the ISS

Robots, no matter if they’re big or small, soft or humanoid, have a prime purpose of helping humankind in some way, whether they’re teaching children about coding and robotics, working…

Production of 3D Printed Promethus Rocket Engine Demonstrator Moves Along with New €75M Contract

In 2030, European launcher engines will look quite different than they do today. That’s the goal, anyway, and the development of the Prometheus demonstrator engine is a good start. Prometheus…

3D Printing News Briefs: December 15, 2017

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re starting with some aerospace 3D printing, then moving on to business announcements, new releases, and 3D printed art. The European Space Agency has…

Airbus Used Robotics and 3D Printing Technology to Build Record-Breaking Fully Electric Satellite

Due to the freedom of form and reduced production time, cost, and weight that 3D printing offers, many industries, including the aerospace sector, make good use of the technology in…

Benefits and Challenges of 3D Printing in Aeronautics and Automotive Industries

From needs to solutions, the technology on display at last week’s IN(3D)USTRY event at Fira Barcelona kept the focus on today’s developing realities in industrial 3D printing. A very busy…

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…

Airbus Defence and Space Enhances Satellite RF Filter Production with Metal 3D Printing

When it comes to 3D printing in the aerospace sector, France-based Airbus is one of the biggest adopters of the technology, and the company has teamed up with big names in…

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…

International Conference on Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing ‘Steers Clear of the Hype’, Announces Full Speaker Lineup

3D printing technology and the industry that has sprung up around it continues to grow with a momentum that seems never-ending. If you have been wondering about its staying power…

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…

Ogle Models & Prototypes Tapped to 3D Print Components for Mars Rover Prototype

World-class prototyping company Ogle Models & Prototypes, based in the UK, has been called on to help with numerous projects involving 3D printing, like this British Telecom phone model and…

Physicists Create 3D Printable Map of the Oldest Light in the Universe

One of primary obstacles standing in the way of innovation in the 3D printing industry is limitations in production size. Though this is still an issue for many applications here…

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…

Major Thumbs Up from the ISS: Astronaut Tim Peake Applauds UK Students’ 3D Printed Rocket Inhaler Caps

If you have asthma and have ever had to use an inhaler, that’s scary and inconvenient enough in itself—but when this condition is handed down to or erupts in children,…

3D Printing: The Stories We Didn’t Cover This Week–January 23

This week’s news starts with a Kickstarter campaign and a design competition, and it also covers news from i.materialise and Materialise blogs, business news from Norsk Titanium and Premium AEROTEC,…

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…