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Launcher acquires AMCM’s M 4K machine for rocket production Launcher, a space technology company headquartered in Hawthorne, California, USA, has acquired the M 4K Additive Manufacturing machine from AMCM GmbH, an EOS Group company, based in Starnberg, Germany, to advance its high-performance orbital launch vehicle strategy. The M 4K will reportedly enable Launcher to produce the world’s largest single-part additively manufactured copper alloy combustor, used in the E-2 rocket engine to deliver small satellites to low Earth orbit. Since 2017, Launcher has been an AMCM partner and the collaboration has resulted in the development of the M 4K, which has a part construction volume of 450 x 450 x 1000 mm and supports copper alloy, ideal for liquid rocket engine combustion chamber production. Often, companies building AM liquid rocket engines have been forced to design smaller engines or produce multi-part combustion chambers to fit within the limited construction volume constraints of commercial AM machines. With Launcher’s commitment to the industry’s highest propulsion performance benchmarks, it needed to additively manufacture its E-2 engine combustion chamber as a single part, enabling optimal cooling channel design, fewer parts, simpler processes, and lower overall production costs.
In addition, while most companies developing an additively manufactured liquid rocket engine rely on Inconel alloy as their combustion chamber material, copper alloy is said to be the best material for liquid rocket engine combustion chambers due to its optimal thermal conductivity properties, which enable more effective regenerative cooling. Informed by NASA research on additively manufactured copper, Launcher requested copper alloy support in 2017 for the M 4K machine from AMCM and EOS. Max Haot, founder and CEO of Launcher, commented, “AMCM’s
Launcher has acquired the M 4K Additive Manufacturing machine from AMCM as part of the companies ongoing partnership (Courtesy AMCM GmbH)
Fraunhofer IFAM to host second sinterbased AM workshop in September The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing (IFAM), Bremen, Germany, is hosting a second workshop on sinter-based Additive Manufacturing, September 15–16, 2021. The workshop will provide insights into Binder Jetting and other sinter-based technologies
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flexibility and openness to customer requirements, both in machine building and process implementation, is remarkable. We look forward to continuing our partnership with AMCM as Launcher advances its mission to build and operate the market’s most efficient rockets delivering satellites to orbit.” As part of the collaboration between the companies, Launcher’s first rocket engines were built on-site at AMCM in Starnberg, Germany, in October 2019. Following Launcher’s test-fire in October 2020 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Launcher purchased an AMCM M 4K as part of the company’s expansion in Hawthorne. www.launcherspace.com www.amcm.com
from the user’s point of view. Participants can choose to attend the event either live or virtually. Prior to the workshop, an additional tutorial (live attendance only) is available for interested participants, in which the fundamentals of sinter-based AM technologies will be explained in-depth. The presenters will
Metal Additive Manufacturing | Summer 2021
discuss experiences and applications for metal Binder Jetting, introduce new sinterbased technologies and include a session on enabling technologies such as depowdering and simulation, as well as an expert panel discussion on the challenges and future perspectives of sinterbased Additive Manufacturing. Further information on the workshop and registration details are available via Fraunhofer IFAM. www.ifam.fraunhofer.de
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Vol. 7 No. 2