Thales Alenia Space

In the collective imagination, the space industry plays the role of the ultimate expression of technology and scientific research developments. It is true that it represents the sphere par excellence of experimentation and verification of the innovative technical solutions that have been both found and consolidated over the last 70 years, enabling a noticeable and tangible improvement in our daily lives.

However, it is not uncommon for more ordinary requirements and discoveries, made for simpler purposes, to then become the focus of industry attention, as they can also potentially be used and improved upon within the space sector. In fact, this mutual exchange of information, ideasand solutions in the various fields of science is the real driving force behind the development and progress of our society.

It is in this vision and perspective that the technique of 3D printing, which was invented in the 1980s to produce trivial objects, small toys and quick scale reproductions, has in a very short time also found application and development in the space sector, where two specific requirements have simultaneously emerged:

1. Reducing operating costs by masses saving to be sent into space.

2. Increased investment in manned scientific missions for planetary exploration and colonisation

Initially, the focus was on the production of parts using the stereolithography (SLA) technique, which is based on the principle of melting metal alloy powders by laser, producing the necessary object layer by layer.

The disruptive advantages of additive technology over machining technology stem mainly from the opposite basic principle.

With this technique, material is added where it is needed and is not removed from a raw block with the limitations imposed by geometries, tools and the CNC machines themselves which, although increasingly advanced, bearinghigh-performance, and being better equipped with powerful CAD/CAM software, do not inherently have the versatility of Additive Manufacturing (AM).

Flexibility, mass reduction and fast production are the main reasons for the huge popularity of 3D printing in the industrial sector; but for use in the space sector, tests, qualifications, and certifications are needed to attest to the usability, reliability and durability of the parts produced.

"Flexibility, mass reduction and fast production are the main reasons for the huge popularity of 3D printing in the industrial sector; but for use in the space sector, tests, qualifications, and certifications are needed to attest to the usability, reliability and durability of the parts produced"

This represents the meeting point between this production technique and our particular field of application.

Today, the solutions offered between printable techniques and materials are uncountable, and not all of them can be used in space, because the particular operating environment and the operating time to be guaranteed require attention to be focused on a restricted list of applicable products and technologies.

Consequently, companies in the sector have the task of setting up teams of specialists to take care of all the aspects involved, as a radical change of mindset is required in order to be able to make the most of the opportunities that technology has to offer:

● Designers need new modelling tools for the design of trabecular structures;

● technologists must study and apply the new standards the major international space organisations issue and frequently update to define the qualification procedures for materials and products for space use in ever greater detail.

● technicians must learn how to use 3D printers to make prototype productions of flight parts and all types of samples required for qualification campaigns.

The consolidated maturity achieved by the technology makes it possible to build and embark more and more different additive manufactured metal parts on satellites, making the product offered more competitive in terms of cost, as it requires less manufacturing time and is lighter, guaranteeing the same performance as that built with traditional techniques.

At Thales Alenia Space, the experience of the last decade has enabled us to see the industrial benefits that this technique offers, enabling us to improve our market response in terms of quality, delivery time and performance, while also making us more autonomous and less tied to suppliers.

Starting from this consolidated base, a new strand of development has been explored for some years now, which increasingly refined printing techniques offer, driven by the ideas that the prospects of colonising the Moon and Mars have generated.

Different sites of the company have equipped themselves with 3D printing machines of polymeric materials for different purposes:

1. To produce tools, jigs and equipment for handling flight parts manufactured in clean rooms with stringent cleanliness and ESD requirements.

2. To quickly develop mockups and BBs to get real feedback on the designed object and verify the need for improvements and refinements.

3. To qualify plastic materials for use in space both for tertiary structural parts and for parts to be used in living modules for the use and consumption of astronauts.

The latter is an extremely exciting field and even the manufacturers of basic materials have realised the enormous potential and have started to offer some interesting proposals on the market.

It is the aim of our engineers to identify the most suitable materials for the purpose, which can meet the thermomechanical requirements of the different missions without neglecting the verification of the essential parameters for compatibility with use in manned modules: outgassing, toxicityand flammability.

Material qualification activities are in progress and in parallel the designers are defining the parts that can be made from polymeric materials to replace prepregs that are no longer technologically advanced.

This commitment is aimed at reducing the procurement time of raw materials and the manufacture of flight parts with important consequences for the environmental impact of our products as well, since we reduce the processing waste and its disposal process, we are no longer bound to the Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ) imposed by suppliers, and we reduce the costs for the management of the plants in the production lines.  

In conclusion, it can be said that 3D printing provides concrete opportunities to produce flexibly, quickly, technically compliant with stringent space requirements and with a reduced process carbon footprint.