American aerospace enterprises adopt additive manufacturing: Monolithic copper alloy rocket engine combustion chamber

I. Company Introduction

Launcher is an American aerospace startup that manufactures rocket engines and satellite transfer vehicles like Orbiter through metal 3D printing technology.

II. E-2 Rocket Engine

The E-2 is a liquid oxygen and kerosene closed-cycle rocket engine. This engine employs a large number of additively manufactured components.

E-2 Rocket Engine Combustion Chamber

The combustion chamber is made of copper alloy material CuCrZr, formed in one print, without the need for casting and welding, and directly integrates the regenerative cooling channel.

E-2 Rocket Engine Injector

GRCop-42 Heat Exchanger

This product is used to simulate the regenerative cooling channels of the E-2 rocket engine combustion chamber.

Closed-cycle liquid oxygen turbopump

In the turbopump of the E-2 engine, Launcher has designed a closed-cycle impeller equipped with a shroud.

By employing 3D printing technology, the company integrally prints the inducer and the main impeller as a single component. The first prototype has successfully passed testing at a rotational speed of 30,000 revolutions per minute. This approach eliminates the conventional casting, forging and welding processes, and substantially shortens the iteration cycle while reducing manufacturing costs.

Volute Section of the Liquid Oxygen Pump of the E-2 Engine

The inlet and outlet casings of the pump are manufactured from F357 aluminum alloy, and the outlet casing is fabricated from Inconel 718 alloy.

III. E-1 Rocket Engine

An earlier generation of engines.

The E-1 rocket injector is fabricated via 3D printing.

E-1 Thrust Chamber

The prototype profile displays the complex internal cooling channels fabricated via additive manufacturing.

IV. Orbiter Satellite Orbital Transfer Vehicle

The Orbiter has a maximum payload capacity of 400 kilograms and can be integrated with separation systems for CubeSats and small satellites.

Extensive 3D-printed components have been adopted in Orbiter, with the materials including aluminum alloy F357, titanium alloy 6Al-4V and Inconel 718.

The 22-liter high-pressure propellant tank of the Orbiter

Titanium alloy for the second-generation high-pressure propellant tanks. The titanium alloy tank can withstand an internal pressure of 3000 psi, meets flight requirements, achieves lighter weight and higher pressure-bearing capacity, and allows for continuous optimization of wall thickness.

The first-generation propellant tank is 3D-printed using Inconel alloy.

Orbiter Orbital Vehicle Engine

V. Other 3D Printed Parts

Orbiter engine injector (Inconel 718), mixes propellants to facilitate combustion in the engine combustion chamber.

Thrust structure (titanium alloy 6AI-4V), supports the orbiter engine and gimbal assembly.

Spring seat (titanium alloy 6AI-4V), used to fix the spring of the separation system that connects the orbital vehicle to the launch vehicle.

Star sensor baffle (aluminum F357), used for precise navigation to keep the orbiter on its orbit.