The European Space Agency (ESA) is investigating the potential of additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, to transform how space missions are put together, and has identified ten ways.

1. Items impossible to make any other way

This titanium-lattice ball is a good example of additive manufacturing capabilities. These hollow balls have a complex external geometry, making them incredibly light while remaining stiff and opening up possibilities for future space applications. They could not have been manufactured as a single part using a conventional manufacturing process.

2. Computer designs translated to physical models

Instead of standard “subtractive manufacturing” — where material is cut away from a single piece — additive manufacturing involves building up a part from a series of layers, each one printed on top of the other.

The process starts with a computer-aided design (CAD) model, which is then sliced horizontally apart to plan its layer-based physical construction. Anything suitable for the printing process can be designed by computer then printed as an actual item, typically by melting powder or wire materials, in plastic or metal.

3. Novel design rules

“AM offers a totally different way of designing,” explains Laurent Pambaguian of ESA’s Materials Technology Section, coordinating the Agency’s AM research. “Traditional design rules are often linked to giving a cutting tool access to the bulk part — how do we remove the surplus material to produce the final item?

“AM, on the other hand, doesn’t mean we do away with all restrictions, but we are moving away for the traditional ‘design for manufacturing’ approach towards ‘design for need’.

“We also require fewer manufacturing steps, less material and energy — making it a greener process as well. The real challenge is to grasp the new AM design rules, and change our standard way of thinking accordingly, in order to maximize the benefits AM can bring us.”

4. Benefiting space, a low-volume industry

Laurent believes that AM, if applied well, can overcome many problems manufacturing for space has traditionally faced: “Space is a low-volume industrial sector, we need a relatively small amount of parts, but very well made. So, for instance, we might require only several kilos of a particular material, but then find it is only available to be purchased in 10-ton bulks.