Stargate Metal Printers – 3D printing the next generation of rockets
Relativity Space is printing the Terran rocket with the Stargate 4th Generation Metal 3D printers
Relativity Space, the company to 3D print rockets and build the largest metal 3D printers in the world, today unveiled the latest iteration of its first-of-its-kind proprietary manufacturing platform, Stargate 4th Generation metal 3D printers.
The newest Stargate printer technology defies traditional printing constraints by moving horizontally as it feeds multiple wires into a single print head to print orbital rockets. Relativity is developing customized software and machine learning techniques to allow these printers to print more complex and significantly larger metal products, with improved print speed and reliability. Stargate 4th Generation printers also radically simplify manufacturing supply chains, as they are capable of printing a rocket with 100x fewer parts in a matter of months.
With faster iteration cycles, Stargate printers are capable of accelerating progress and innovation within the aerospace industry. Most immediately, Stargate 4th Generation printers will serve as the primary manufacturing infrastructure for Terran R production.
Key features and benefits of Stargate 4th Generation printer technology:
-
Significant improvements in print speed: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Generation Stargate printers already operate at print speeds well beyond industry standards. 4th Generation Stargate printers improve on their predecessors and offer 7x faster than earlier generation Stargate printers and even achieve up to 12x faster printing over Relativity’s already industry-leading performance.
-
Entirely new print orientation and environment:
-
Increased print size capacity through use of a horizontal print orientation. Stargate 4thgeneration printers remove ceiling height constraints which impact vertical 3D printers. Through horizontal printing, these printers are capable of printing objects up to 120 feet long and 24 feet wide, resulting in an increased volume capacity of 55x its 3rd generation predecessor.
-
Reduced print start time and cost is supported by an integrated approach to build setup and print plate preparation.
-
Reduced entropy, for more consistent, reliable manufacturing can be realized through a configuration which centralizes work centers around Stargate’s robotic automation platform.
-
-
Improved print quality and work center efficiency is achieved through powerful perception technology for in-process monitoring, which fuses together computer vision, advanced sensors and real-time telemetry.
-
Radical part count reduction as well as rapid design iterations as Stargate printers are not beholden to long-lead, high capital expenditure fixed tooling.
-
Lighter, more cost-effective aerospace product production through rapid iteration is generated by leveraging Stargate printers and material science advancements developed in Relativity’s in-house metallurgical laboratory. Relativity has proprietary, high-performance next generation materials which will be used for products printed with Stargate 4th Generation printers. Most immediately, Terran R will be the first product in a series of products to benefit from use of lighter materials and a faster production time, creating significant cost reductions for customers downstream.
“Large-scale products that are designed to fly will inevitably be 3D printed,” said Tim Ellis, cofounder and CEO of Relativity Space. “The lighter a product is, the better it performs, and when 3D printing that product, it’s also faster and more cost-effective to produce with each successive improvement … Stargate printers are designed to unlock rapid iteration, which opens up opportunities for innovation in large-scale manufacturing products. What would take traditional aerospace and space manufacturers years to develop and build, will be reduced down to months due to a highly adaptable, scalable, and automated process, made possible through software-driven manufacturing.”
The factory has several Stargate 4th Generation printers online with more than a dozen printers planned to be producing Terran R components in the coming months. At full capacity forecasted run rate, each Stargate 4th Generation printer is capable of producing 4 Terran R rockets per year.
More information to be found at https://www.relativityspace.com
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
