India Tests 3D-Printed Space Tech

India has made major strides in recent years towards developing its space-travelling capacity as a country, and its latest test breakthrough offers new ground for 3D printing and rocket creation.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced earlier this month that it had successfully test-fired a rocket engine that was manufactured using the latest in additive technology, more popularly known as 3D printing.

The PS4 engine, which uses liquid fuel – a mixture of nitrogen tetroxide and monomethyl hydrazine – lasted for just under seven minutes; the new manufacturing process is 60% quicker and reduced the number of materials required by 97%, from a total weight volume of 565 kilograms to just 13.7 kilograms.

This new process also reduced the number of engine parts from 14 to one piece. That solitary piece forms part of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s upper stage rocket.

With the new tech, ISRO can now increase its number of launches, furthering its future plans of putting an astronaut on the Moon and establishing a base there by 2047.

In August last year, ISRO successfully completed a lunar exploration mission by landing a rover on the celestial sphere.

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