Europeans to Send 3D Printer to Space Station

Hot on the heels of NASA’s first foray into interstellar 3D printing, the agency’s European counterpart is launching its own 3D printer into space.

The European Space Agency will send the new Portable On-Board 3D Printer (POP3D) to the International Space Station this summer, where it will join the Made In Space printer that NASA installed last year. That printer produced its first part in November.

The POP3D is a cube-shaped device that measures just 10 in. per side. It was funded by Italy’s ASI space agency, designed by Altran, and uses heat-based printing and a biodegradable plastic (polylactic acid). Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will test the printer.

“Part of the challenge of designing a 3D printer for the Station was to ensure its operation does not affect the crew environment,” said Giorgio Musso of Thales Alenia Space Italy, principal investigator for the project.

As with the Made In Space device, all printed items will be returned to Earth to be tested and compared with items made by the same printers on the ground.

ESA hopes to use 3D printing to create tools in space, eliminate the need to launch spare parts for resupply missions, and simplify the parts used to repair the ISS or other spacecraft.

“In the case of a complex injector of a rocket engine, we are able to take the total number of parts needed from around 250 down to one or two,” said Steffen Beyer, head of Materials and Process Technology at Airbus Defence and Space. He was quoted in an ESA statement. “That represents a revolution in design and manufacturing.”

You can see more images of the printer from a recent presentation here.

Source: Space.com