Launcher is a Brooklyn-based startup that successfully produced a copper alloy E-1 engine using a 3D printer. Its long-term goal is to 3D print a liquid rocket engine that can send satellites into space.
Launcher CEO Max Haot said in an interview with R & D Magazine that the company hopes to continue to expand the use of 3D printers and strive to manufacture high-performance rocket engines while reducing costs.
"So, we are doing our best to promote the construction of the largest and highest performing 3D printing engine unit by the end of 2020, and we are now in the sub-test stage."
He added: "Recently we have made a breakthrough. We have successfully completed a 3D printed copper engine. We are improving the size and materials of the printed engine, so we can make a low cost, high performance rocket engine."
Launcher was founded in 2017 with the goal of 3D printing a liquid oxygen / kerosene rocket engine capable of sending commercial satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Haot said, "Launcher's current goal is to build a rocket. Its long-term goal is to provide our customers with small satellites. Only 11 of the 195 countries in the world can send anything into Earth orbit, and only two Private companies-Space X and Rocket Lab. "
He added: "Building a high-performance liquid rocket engine requires a lot of tools and expertise to make its cavity. Our goal is to use 3D printing as much as possible, but obviously still some traditional products will be used."
Haot explained that while Space X, led by Elon Musk, has been able to develop engines in the traditional way, Rocket Lab is the first private company to 3D print engines.
In traditional rocket engines, there is a layer of copper lining, which is ground with hundreds of grooves. The grooves extend along a small cross-section. The casing is brazed with copper, so no metal will fail. This process requires a large number of dedicated brazing and specific furnaces and specific processes.
However, by using a 3D printer company like Launcher, you can reduce the special tools and the need for expertise to make engines.
Haot said: "Printing a liquid rocket engine will be a huge breakthrough because it is so simple that no other tools will be used, so if you change your results based on the test results every time you generate a new, different product, The channel design can increase the cooling rate, which is why 3D printing has recently been a huge driving force for the manufacture of small rocket engines. "
Haot said that although the Launcher has made some progress in 3D printers, there are still some shortcomings. The printer is not large enough to mix two metals that are copper together.
According to Haot, technological advances have made satellites significantly smaller and do not require large rockets for transportation. The launch rocket will be about 60 feet long and weigh 33 tons.
"The entire market for small engines and small rockets is for satellite miniaturization. Satellites have changed from the size of a bus to the size of a bread, so you need smaller rockets so that these companies can "Send small satellites where they need them, instead of launching on a large rocket."
He added: "At present, the huge storage of these small satellites prevents them from being sent by small rockets."
Haot said the launcher's goal is to make its first flight in 2024 and four commercial flights a year after 2026.