TRUMPF Collaborates with The Exploration Company on Spacecraft Parts

TRUMPF is collaborating with European space-travel startup The Exploration Company on the construction of core components for spacecrafts designed for missions in the Earth’s orbit and to the moon. As early as the spring of 2024, The Exploration Company will use 3D printers from TRUMPF to print core components of the Huracán and Mistral engines for the Nyx Earth and Nyx Moon spacecraft in Planegg, Germany, near Munich.

The Exploration Company will use 3D printers from TRUMPF to produce core components for the propulsion systems of its Nyx spacecrafts, which it plans to send on missions in the Earth’s orbit, as well as missions to the moon. Courtesy of The Exploration Company.

According to Tobias Brune, responsible for the additive manufacturing business at TRUMPF, additive manufacturing is vital for space travel. Designers use additive manufacturing to combine entire assemblies into a single component, saving weight and reducing complexity, according to TRUMPF.

The Exploration Company plans to send a space capsule to orbit the Earth for several months in an initial mission in 2026. Starting in 2028, further missions are planned to go to the moon. The spacecraft will initially carry freight, but in the long term, the company expects to transport people as well. The startup plans to make the Huracán engine reusable and refuellable in orbit with bio-methane and oxygen.