3D Printing
Article

Flexible and Fast 3D Printing For Satellite Development

by
Aerospace Manufacturing Magazine
April 14, 2023
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Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Summary

Utilizing Onyx FRA materials from Markforged, Sidus is 3D printing strong and light satellites that meet all the certification standards for aerospace engineering. Learn about Sidus' process and how this wouldn’t be possible without additive manufacturing.

How do you make something strong and light – and able to survive the extreme conditions of lower earth orbit? Aerospace company Sidus Space is innovating an entirely re-imagined satellite using 3D printed components.

Led by CEO and former US Navy officer Carol Craig, Sidus is building a business out of strong 3D printing satellites that can serve a multitude of operations and customers in a single unit, thereby reducing the number of satellites needed to be launched into space.

Not only does the satellite need to pass all the rigorous certification standards required of all aerospace engineering, but it must not weigh more than 100kg. This engineering challenge is the work of lead design checker and former NASA engineer Tony Boschi.

He explains: “You’ve got batteries, computers, all the components that make the satellite operate that take up significant weight - the more weight I can remove from the rest of the structure, the more payload we can put in.”

Putting more payload into each satellite is tied to the company’s mission of having multi-use satellites that can serve a multitude of clients.

Read more here.

Aerospace Manufacturing Magazine
Aerospace Manufacturing Magazine

Aerospace Manufacturing Magazine is the leading European B2B publication on the design, production and supply chain of the civil and defence aerospace sectors.

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