SpaceX reveals its Raptor 3 engine, further enhanced with metal AM; secures access to Velo3D technology
August 5, 2024
SpaceX, Hawthorne, California, USA, revealed its Raptor 3 engine for the first time in early August. Produced using advanced manufacturing technologies including – extensively – metal Additive Manufacturing, the company reports that its engineers have been able to move many external parts inward, consolidating and simplifying the design.
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Elon Musk, SpaceX founder, stated on X, “The amount of work required to simplify the Raptor engine, internalise secondary flow paths and add regenerative cooling for exposed components was staggering. As a result, Raptor 3 doesn’t require any heat shield, eliminating heat shield mass and complexity, as well as the fire suppression system. It’s also lighter, has more thrust and has higher efficiency than Raptor 2.” The sea-level variant of Raptor 3 has been reported as having 21% more thrust than Raptor 2 whilst being 7% lighter.
Whilst historically tight-lipped about the specifics of its Additive Manufacturing technology, Musk highlighted SpaceX’s expertise in this area, stating, “It is not widely understood that SpaceX has the most advanced 3D metal printing technology in the world.”
Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) is believed to be the most widely used metal AM process at SpaceX. Whilst it has been publicly reported that the company has purchased more than twenty Velo3D Sapphire PBF-LB metal Additive Manufacturing machines, SpaceX has in the past been linked to a number of AM technology suppliers. Other metal AM processes, such as Directed Energy Deposition, are used widely in the space industry.
SpaceX is believed to operate highly-customised variants of commercially available Additive Manufacturing and post-processing technologies, as well as in-house developed solutions.
In line with the publicly reported activities of other commercial space companies, it can be expected that SpaceX’s development activities in Additive Manufacturing have focused on large scale AM part production, part consolidation, advanced surface finishing, inspection and monitoring, multi-material AM, alloy development, and optimising machine productivity.
Metal Additive Manufacturing was the catalyst that shifted space exploration from state enterprises to private enterprises by significantly reducing cost-barriers and speeding up the development time of space technology. “This is a fantastic example of how Additive Manufacturing fits with innovation. By eliminating numerous labour and inspection steps, reducing the need for technicians, and significantly enhancing safety through radically optimised designs, Elon Musk and his brilliant team of creative minds at SpaceX demonstrate what true innovation looks like. Respect!,” commented one high-profile European AM industry leader on Metal AM magazine’s Linkedin page.
SpaceX secures Velo3D licensing and service agreement in $8 million deal
In September it was announced that Velo3D had entered into a licensing and support agreement with SpaceX, in a deal totalling $8 million. As stated in a Form 8-K, published by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) is granted a licence to Velo3D’s Additive Manufacturing technology and will also receive a range of engineering and support services. The agreement states that SpaceX will pay Velo3D a fee of $5 million for the technology licence and a further $3 million for the provision of related engineering and other support services.
Regarding Velo3D’s technology, SpaceX has been granted a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and perpetual licence. The licence will allow SpaceX to use, manufacture, modify, and develop Velo3D’s technology for its own internal operations. The licence covers not only the existing technology as of the agreement date, but also any improvements or modifications made to the technology by Velo3D over the next twelve months.
The licence agreement confirmed that all IP embodied in the Velo3D technology, including any improvements made by Velo3D, shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Velo3D. Any such improvements made by SpaceX shall be owned entirely by SpaceX, with no obligation to provide Velo3D with any source code, executable copy or documentation comprising any such improvements. It was added that Velo3D shall give SpaceX all assistance reasonably required to perfect such rights to any such improvements made by SpaceX, at SpaceX’s expense.
Clauses regarding bankruptcy were included in the document. Here, it was stated that all rights and licences granted by Velo3D to SpaceX under the agreement will follow Section 365(n) of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Subject to SpaceX’s rights under this code, all rights, licences, and privileges granted to SpaceX would continue, subject to the respective terms and conditions. SpaceX would also be entitled to complete access to all IP, subject to the licence, if not already in SpaceX’s possession.
Velo3D delivered its first Sapphire AM machine in 2018 and has been a strategic partner to companies such as SpaceX, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Lockheed Martin, Avio, and General Motors.
