ESA Test Fires Platinum Alloy Rocket Combustion Chamber That's 3D Printed

[Brian_Krassenstein]

A platinum combustion chamber and nozzle made with 3D printing have been tested under realistic, demanding conditions for the first time. The build and tests were part of a European Space Agency project dubbed Additive Manufacturing Technologies for Advanced Satellite Thrust Chamber, or AMTAC. The firings lasting more than an hour and went through 618 complete ignition cycles. The test cycle included a continuous burn of 32 minutes and the platinum alloy part reached a maximum temperature of 1253°C. You can read the whole story here: http://3dprint.com/73961/esa-3d-printed-thruster/


Below is a photo of the 3D printed thruster chamber during hot firing:

[curious aardvark]

what a waste of platinum. Should be going into fuel cells not rockets :-)