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Rocket Manufacturer Orbex Secures £40.4M to Help Power its Micro-Launcher https://ift.tt/1YeuJFw Orbex, a UK-based startup developing small satellite launch technologies, has raised £40.4 million ($45.7 million) in Series C funding, building on its £48 million ($54.4 million) raised since 2017, plus grant money from the European Commission Horizon 2020 Programme and the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Boost! Initiative. The multi-million funding round will help strengthen Orbex’s place in the growing British private space economy, which is gearing up to rejoin the space race. In the last few years, Britain’s ambition to become an international space center has led to a new phase in the country’s involvement in space. Although historically, the U.K. has had limited involvement with space launch capabilities, it does have a space program and has been operating in space since 1969. However, it wasn’t until May 2021 when the U.K. government announced that the country was ready to develop spaceports and rockets, hoping to become an international space center with at least 30 rockets a year launching from British soil. Around that time, aspiring space businesses could apply for a license to launch from U.K. soil. Orbex was one of them. A prototype for Prime, the firm’s first reusable launch vehicle, was unveiled earlier this year and is still undergoing testing and completion at Space Hub Sutherland, the U.K.’s first operational spaceport in northern Scotland, before its debut flight in 2023. Geared toward launching small satellites into orbit, the 62-foot-long (19-meters), two-stage rocket is fitted with seven 3D printed engines, uniquely manufactured in a single piece, without joins. For the task, the company uses a new custom-made AMCM M4K 3D printer that can print full-scale monobody rocket engines and turbopumps in-house, avoiding the need to use any welds, bolts, or flanges. Orbex relies on a wide range of advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to create each Orbex launch vehicle, including additive manufacturing for most propulsion subsystems and advanced carbon fiber fabrics and rovings for the main structures and tanks. The use of lightweight carbon fiber to form the structures and tanks delivers enormous strength with very low mass, says the company, while enabling the tanks to hold cryogenic fluids without introducing metal or plastic liners. Because of the scale and mass of the components being produced, the process is quite challenging, so Orbex has also added a de-powdering facility to automate how the unsintered superalloy powders are removed from the engine parts after production, using a large machine from Solukon, the SFM-AT1000-S, and had recently hinted to further expansion of its propulsion and carbon fiber production facilities. Now, according to the company, the new funding round will allow Orbex to scale its resources, which could also mean its 3D printing facilities.
This latest funding round saw a renewed commitment from existing investors BGF, Heartcore Capital, High-Tech Gründerfonds, and Octopus Ventures. It also attracted several new investors, including The Scottish National Investment Bank; Jacobs – NASA’s most prominent services provider–; special investment fund The Danish Green Future Fund; Swiss VC firm Verve Ventures; and British entrepreneurs Phillip and James Chambers, founders of Workday Peakon. With Orbex’s Prime rocket currently undergoing a wide variety of integration tests, including the testing of the main propellant tanks and engines, as well as testing launch procedures, including rollout, strongback erection, and fuel in advance of the first launch, which will carry a payload developed by Surrey Satellite, one of the world’s largest small satellite developers, investors are convinced that the startup will be a trailblazer in the European race to space. Heartcore Capital Co-founder and Partner Jimmy Fussing Nielsen indicated that with this new funding round, Orbex could become the first company to launch from European soil in decades. He hopes that satellite companies hoping to ride-share on a “bus” from the U.S., China, India, or Kazakhstan, will soon realize that “a dedicated ‘Uber-ride’ to space is undoubtedly better for business.” Similarly, High-Tech Gründerfonds Principal Yann Fiebig described Orbex as a startup that “underpins” its leadership in the European micro launcher market. He also pointed out that with this new round, Orbex has reached all technical, commercial, and financial requirements to launch in 2023.
Locally, governments and financial institutions invested in the up-and-coming U.K. space industry have high hopes for Orbex. Not only is the company innovating through the development of sustainable rocket technology, but it is also supporting the local creation of jobs. For example, David Oxley, director of strategic projects at the Scottish agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), said Orbex created dozens of high-quality manufacturing jobs over the past couple of years and recently announced plans for many more. Even the U.K. Government’s Science Minister, Nusrat Ghani, explained that there are more than 47,000 jobs in the local space sector and highlighted the importance of a company like Orbex getting a multi-million-pound investment as an excellent opportunity to build further on the country’s ambitious space plans. As Orbex counts down to the first vertical launch from U.K. soil, the new funding round will allow it to scale up resources and unlock future projects and opportunities toward its long-term goal of establishing a reliable, economically successful, and environmentally sustainable European space launch business. The post Rocket Manufacturer Orbex Secures £40.4M to Help Power its Micro-Launcher appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/zOtKe4N October 27, 2022 at 08:53AM
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NIST Awards Ohio 3D Printing Service $800K for Distributed AM in National Emergencies https://ift.tt/kxMYgjm IC3D, an Ohio-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and 3D printing services company, recently announced that the company had received an $800,000 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST, an agency within the Department of Commerce (DOC), was formed in 1901, and was known as the National Bureau of Standards until 1988. The grant, titled “Regionalized Quality Control Centers for Mobilization of Distributed Additive Manufacturing [AM]”, was awarded to IC3D for the company’s proposal to start a pilot program for regional centers for 3D printed parts qualification. IC3D will use the money to open the first such center, in Columbus, OH. As the CEO points out, the success of the company’s proposal is in large part due to IC3D’s experience in 2020, providing 3D printed face shields as a participant in the America Makes Advanced Manufacturing Crisis Production Response (AMCPR) program. America Makes, of course, is the Youngstown, OH-based, public-private partnership for AM education, and especially, AM vocational training. According to IC3D, the company realized the crucial role that could be played during a national emergency by the type of qualification center it will be attempting to put into place with the SBIR grant. By centralizing into regional hubs the parts qualification process for personal protective equipment (PPE) — as well as, eventually, all other emergency supplies that have the potential to be printed — the regulatory phase could be streamlined and sped up, in turn fast-tracking the subsequent processes of manufacture and distribution. $800,000 may seem relatively insignificant, given that it has become routine for the federal government to throw around tens of millions of dollars at a time for advanced manufacturing projects nowadays. However, if the pilot program proves to be successful once IC3D gets it up-and-running, the company not only will have established its own niche in the US AM ecosystem, but will have indeed helped solidify the emergence of an entirely new market segment within that ecosystem. To elaborate, the objective of this project is so closely linked with the Biden administration’s sector-wide objectives for AM, that if IC3D succeeds, the company will have contributed to rapidly accelerating a development that necessarily goes far beyond the scope of one company. If the US government’s goals for utilizing advanced manufacturing as a comprehensive economic resilience solution pan out, the need for emergency qualification of new production methods will affect virtually every company involved in the AM sector, not to mention the rest of the advanced manufacturing scene. Therefore, as IC3D’s proposal implies, there will need to be a qualification center for every regional hub, creating an opportunity for service bureaus across the country. The post NIST Awards Ohio 3D Printing Service $800K for Distributed AM in National Emergencies appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 27, 2022 at 07:39AM With SLM Acquisition, Will Nikon Become the Next GE in 3D Printing? https://ift.tt/zkMgWir Maturation of the additive manufacturing (AM) market in the post-pandemic era continued last month with Nikon announcing its intent to make a third acquisition in the space—this time a premiere, A-list player in the market’s biggest segment: SLM Solutions (ETR: AM3D). A little more than a month now from the original announcement, the deal seems to be all but ensured, with SLM’s board recommending shareholders accept the takeover option. The deal isn’t actually expected to close until early next year, so there won’t be a lot of comments from either side until then. Nikon, however, very clearly laid out the plans and motivation behind the acquisition back in September, so speculation on that front is minimal. There is a very clear objective and initial path to integration based on the public presentations Nikon held after the announcement. What speculation is left now relates mainly to how the two companies will ultimately influence one another, and how that will translate to potential future growth and success for both. There is some very comparable activity in the additive industry’s recent past that we can look to for some precedent. The 2016 industry shifting acquisition of Concept Laser and Arcam by GE, while not exactly the same as the current deal, is a prior example to look to with regards to a multinational corporate giant buying into AM as part of a long-term strategy. Now, five years later, we see something akin to the GE deal happening with Nikon and SLM. What can we unpack from all of this to set a basis of expectation for the future of the metal additive industry, with regard to how Nikon might fair going forward? Feature image courtesy of Toshihiro Gamo. The post With SLM Acquisition, Will Nikon Become the Next GE in 3D Printing? appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 27, 2022 at 07:39AM
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Daimler Truck Tackles Spare Part Challenges with E-Shop for 3D Printed Parts https://ift.tt/1YRKPol Reversing the spare parts dilemma for bus operators will need 3D printing at its helm. Up until now, spare parts for buses demanded massive local stocks or complex on-demand logistics, but digitalization is changing that. This week, the owners and operators of Mercedes Benz and Setra buses revealed they can now produce the parts themselves with 3D printing thanks to a new partnership with industrial AM specialist Farsoon and IP protection and licensing pioneer Wibu-Systems. The OMNIplus 3D Printing e-ShopCovering every segment in the global bus market, Daimler Truck develops both the Mercedes Benz and Setra bus brands. In 2021, the manufacturer sold 455,400 units, and this year it continues to encounter a strong demand with incoming orders on a high level, order backlog at a record level, and a new label for certified used trucks. This could easily translate into thousands of spare parts on demand. To make sure it could supply the spare parts for its buses, Daimler turned to Farsoon for the printing hardware and printing software and Wibu-Systems for the protection of both the sensitive know-how contained in the print designs and the preprint, printing, and billing process. The result is a revolutionary 3D printed parts shop. Bus operators can now go to the new OMNIplus 3D Printing License e-shop and pick the items they need from an initial selection of 100 parts, which is destined to grow fast, as Daimler Truck has already identified around 40,000 potentially 3D printable parts from their back catalog to add to the store. All the buyers need to get the physical product in their hands is either access to their nearest OMNIplus service partner to handle the process or a certified Farsoon printer to create their own mini-factory at the point of need. Once they make their purchase, they receive three digital items. First, they get the actual digital object data, encrypted with Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter award-winning protection technology, needed to prepare the print job with Farsoon’s Buildstar software. Then, at the checkout, the buyer receives a preprinting and a printing license, specifying exactly how many copies of the digital object they can manufacture with Farsoon’s Makestar software on one of its certified printers. Both protected and unprotected parts can be combined in one job to reduce printing costs. Since the spare parts and components are available worldwide, around the clock, and there are no complex and resource-intensive logistics, the new system offers enormous economic and sustainable advantages. More importantly, it is an ideal implementation of the digital industry with all its flexibility, agility, user-friendliness, and overcoming challenges in supply chain disruptions. Buying parts via the OMNIplus 3D Printing License shop feels like any online retail system, says Farsoon. The system solves two essential problems, on the one hand, there’s the protection of the digital object data, and secondly, the monetization of the entire process with a reliable license management system. Actually, Farsoon Europe Managing Director Dirk Simon predicts that the successful implementation of this revolutionary AM digital rights management system opens up completely new vistas for Farsoon’s service operations and for the availability of products where they are needed at the point of sale. The China-headquartered company caters its industrial-level polymer and metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) systems to customers in a wide range of industries and likely sees true manufacturing potential in providing a system similar to Daimler’s spare parts shop to other clients, such as aerospace, oil and gas, and electronic. Beyond DaimlerNew service concepts like the OMNIplus 3D Printing License e-shop can help create new global digital markets. Yet the challenge here is to produce parts that need protection for the intellectual property involved and to make the entire value chain correctly traceable and billable, especially since the parts are processed and printed by a third party. This is where Daimler Truck has found a solution with the potential to revolutionize the current conventional parts business. With CodeMeter in the picture, Wibu-Systems says the crew behind the OMNIplus 3D printing service and their customers can “rest assured that their IP is secure.” The process is protected, and the parts are genuine and safe from manipulation, even if they are produced by the users themselves. Deliberately designed to be as unobtrusive and natural as possible, the new joint solution will be showcased at the additive manufacturing expo Formnext in Hall 11.1 (at booth D69J) from November 15 through 18 in Frankfurt, Germany. The post Daimler Truck Tackles Spare Part Challenges with E-Shop for 3D Printed Parts appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 27, 2022 at 06:53AM
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The Complete Cyber Weekend Email Marketing Campaign Guide for B2B SaaS Companies in 2022 https://ift.tt/ELJ8QSX The biggest sales weekend of the year is almost here. Cyber Weekend, comprising Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, is the perfect opportunity for B2B SaaS companies to drive conversions and increase revenue. But with so many deals and promotions, how can your company stand out in the inbox and generate real results? And which email marketing tactics should you focus on during this high-volume weekend? To answer these questions, we analyzed last year’s trends in the context of today’s economy, referenced examples from successful B2B companies, and consulted with industry experts to bring you the ultimate guide for your Black Friday email marketing campaign. Table Of Contents Cyber Weekend stats for B2B SaaS marketersAmid inflation and economic uncertainty, B2B buyers are more cost-conscious and selective about their purchases. While buyers may be hesitant to make big-ticket purchases, they are still open to cost-effective solutions that can drive ROI and improve their bottom line. Cyber Weekend 2021 recap
Cyber Weekend Forecast for 2022
5 offer ideas for B2B SaaSB2B buyers are still willing to invest in cost-effective solutions, but they’ll be more discerning about their purchases. Here are some insights to keep in mind as you plan your Black Friday email marketing campaign:
5 crucial elements for B2B Cyber Weekend emailsMost email marketing practices apply to B2B as well, such as having a clear call-to-action, personalizing emails, and providing value. Here are some specific tips for B2B Black Friday email marketing: 1. Highlight the ROIFocus on how your offer can drive cost savings or improve the bottom line for your B2B buyers. Businesses are experiencing slower growth and tighter budgets, so many might hesitate to invest in new solutions. On the flip side, Cyber Weekend is also the perfect time for businesses to purchase solutions they previously could not afford. B2B Martech spending is expected to grow by nearly 30% over the next two years, so businesses are still investing in technology to drive growth and efficiency despite inflationary pressures. Capitalize on this by highlighting the long-term ROI of your offer and how it can improve their bottom line. 2. Target specific buyers and decision-makersThe B2B purchase process involves multiple decision-makers and influencers. Target specific roles, such as CFOs, marketing directors, or operations managers who might be interested in your offer and personalize the email and highlight how your solution can address their pain points and drive success for their department. For example, a social scheduling tool like Buffer can offer a discount on its premium plan for marketing directors, highlighting how it can save time and improve its social media strategy. Personalizing the email to the specific job function can improve engagement and drive conversions. 3. Include a countdownFOMO can drive conversions and encourage buyers to take advantage of your offer before it expires. Tapping into the excitement of Cyber Weekend and including a countdown in your email can create a feeling of urgency for buyers to take action. A countdown timer with every email sent can also help track the success of your offer and adjust future promotions. Keep track of the open rate, click-through rate, and conversions during the countdown period to gauge its effectiveness and optimize for future Cyber Weekends. Pro tip: Check out the GetResponse Integration center and power up your emails with countdown timers. 4. Leverage social proof90% of buyers are more likely to make a decision after reading a trusted review. Including customer success stories, case studies, or testimonials in emails can build trust and show the value of your solution to potential buyers. Social proof also helps differentiate your brand and offer from competitors during the busy Cyber Weekend shopping period. Highlighting specific results and success metrics can showcase the effectiveness of your solution and drive conversions. 5. Create lists for your coldest leads
Cyber Weekend is a great chance to reconnect with leads that have been inactive or on the fence about your solution. B2B SaaS customers typically have longer sales cycles and Hickey suggests warming them up in advance and hitting them with a time-sensitive promotion. Segment your email list by targeting prospects more unlikely to convert. These prospects may respond the most to a strong monetary discount for a limited period. Hickey suggests it’s crucial to warm up these prospects in advance by hinting at the offer in previous emails. You can also consider surprising non-converters once more after Black Friday with a special “missed out” offer. 5 examples of B2B cyber weekend email campaigns we loveHere are some campaigns to help inspire your own: Helpjuice
Subject Line: One Time Sale – 50% OFF All Helpjuice Plans The “One Time Sale” subject line immediately catches the attention of potential buyers and the 50% discount is hard to resist. It’s incredibly impactful for those confused about purchasing a Helpjuice plan and helps nudge them towards making the decision. Why the email’s greatThe countdown timer in the middle of the email helps create a sense of urgency for subscribers to take advantage of the offer before it expires. The black and yellow theme throughout the email also ties in well with Black Friday. Helpjuice also goes heavy on social proof – logos of their clients, badges from reviews sites, and the heading “#1 Rated Knowledge Base Software (Since 2011)” add immense credibility to their offer. They reinforce that this will be the only time prospects can avail of a 50% discount, with a 14-day trial, during the year, further driving the FOMO factor. CanvaSubject line: Get ready for Black Friday The subject line builds anticipation for the upcoming Black Friday deals and catches the reader’s attention. It encourages readers to plan and take advantage of the limited-time offer that’s soon to come. Why the email’s greatThe email encourages the importance of other businesses to sign up for Canva before Black Friday. They highlight that they’ve added new templates that businesses can use to design Black Friday promotions and sales, creating value and timeliness for the offer. The design also includes multiple CTAs. It’s also promoting Canva’s print service; a great upsell for businesses looking to design physical materials for their Black Friday promotions. The offer finishes off with four additional seats for the price of one, adding value to their offer and encouraging team collaboration, making it a great offer for larger businesses. DatacampSubject line: Save $150 for Cyber Week! There’s no beating around the bush with this subject line, clearly stating their Cyber Week discount for readers. It’s direct and to-the-point, giving readers all the information they need in just a few words. Why the email’s greatThe combination of social proof and a countdown timer add urgency to the offer and increase the likelihood of conversions. FOMO is a powerful driver for buying decisions and Datacamp leverages it well by showcasing their satisfied customers and the limited time left to take advantage of the discount. The CTA “Learn data science for less” with the 50% badge also adds value to the offer and highlights the potential benefit for buyers. Including a satisfied customer’s picture and quote adds warmth and trust to the email campaign. HootsuiteSubject line: Save over $700 on Hootsuite plans and certification The subject line is clear: the reader is in store for multiple deals, and the dollar amount adds value to the offer. It’s also specific, mentioning the two different components of Hootsuite’s business—their plans and certification program. Why the email’s greatHootsuite’s email is packed with offers for social media professionals, providing options for various budgets and needs. The copy capitalizes on how Hootsuite is all professionals need to elevate their social marketing game and drive growth, adding value to the offer. They also promote their certification program for those looking to stand out in the industry and showcase their social media expertise. The email also repeatedly mentions the dollar amount saved, explicitly showing the value of their offer and driving conversions. While the email could benefit from some social proof, it still offers a comprehensive Cyber Week email campaign that caters to multiple buyer personas and highlights immediate and long-term value for their solutions. DesignModoSubject line: Black Friday Deal: Buy Postcards, Startup or Slides and Save 60%! ? The subject line clearly states the offer – what it applies to and how much the reader can save – and adds a bit of personality with the emoji. Why the email’s greatDesignModo promotes its three most popular products, giving readers options to choose from based on their needs. The email plays with a pink and black theme, adding a bit of fun and creativity in the design. The countdown timer at the end adds a sense of urgency to the offer. Where the email does lack, however, is in its copy. There’s a typo in the CTA “buy,” not “by” and it doesn’t pack a punch in terms of how much value each mentioned feature can add for the reader. The before and after prices are clear, though, and the discount is significant, likely driving conversions. Email templates for Black Friday and Cyber MondayOnce you’ve decided on your offer, communicate it with a well-crafted email template. Here are some examples to get you started: Email template 1
Email template 2
Email template 3
Email template 4
Email template 5
Start planning the biggest sales event of the yearIt’s never too late to gear up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a well-thought-out offer and email campaign. Use this guide to inspire your deals and email templates, and test out different subject lines and offers to see what resonates best with your audience. GetResponse can help make your email campaigns successful–try out our platform for free and see the results for yourself. Get in touch with us now to learn more. Printing via GetResponse Blog https://ift.tt/lehSjoa October 27, 2022 at 04:16AM
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New Scan Head Enables In-Process Quality Control for L-PBF Metal 3D Printers https://ift.tt/i0mnxKP Essential for the next stage of additive manufacturing’s (AM) industrialization is the development in-process, closed-loop quality assurance (QA). As one of the few firms solely dedicated to this trend, Sigma Additive Solutions (NASDAQ: SASI) is primed to be in the driver’s seat with its QA software and hardware solutions. Now, thanks to a partnership with vision and motion control manufacturer Novanta, Sigma is making progress toward the goal of closed-loop QA with the Novanta’s Firefly 3D scan head. Traditionally, integrating Sigma’s PrintRite3D technology into a metal 3D printer has necessitated opening up the machine and installing sensor hardware. The three-axis Firefly scan head attaches to laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) machines and feeds into Sigma’s analytics suite in a way that doesn’t require complex retrofits to optical trains. Multiple scan heads can be added for 100% coverage of the entire print bead, while Sigma suggests that “[s]ingle, dual, quad, and multi-row setups can boost machines’ productivity to mass produce high fidelity parts with the benefit of Sigma’s quality assurance solutions’ support.
Sigma explains that this setup, combined with its 200kHz data acquisition rate, “enable[es] the potential for closed-loop control and laser correction that Sigma’s technology has already demonstrated.” Therefore, closed-loop control doesn’t seem to be part-and-parcel of the product, but something that is feasible. The company has demonstrated the possibility of closed-loop control in the past with Materialise, pairing PrintRite3D with the Materialise Control Platform (webinar on the topic embedded below). Sigma Additive Solutions Chief Executive Officer Jacob Brunsberg said of the new product, “This is an exciting moment for the additive manufacturing industry. Quality, and corresponding cost of quality, is one of the greatest barriers to industrialized scale of this technology. Today we have taken a big stride in breaking down this wall, providing access to an agnostic analytics and monitoring solution integrated with scan head technology. This value-add is expected to speed up OEM implementation, while providing solid benefit to additive producers. We are focused on decreasing the cost of quality by shortening development and qualification time, increasing production quality, and decreasing the need for post process inspection for end users.” While Sigma is one of the few and oldest companies in the AM QA space, it is not the only one. Newer startups, like Additive Assurance, Araqev, and Additive Monitoring Systems are tackling the segment. Surely the original equipment manufacturers are advancing their own QA solutions and, as Nikon enters the space with its likely acquisition of SLM Solutions, we can bet that the company will contribute significantly to the QA of SLM 3D printers. To learn more about the Firefly 3D scan head and Sigma package, visit the product page. The product will be presented at Formnext in Frankfurt Germany, November 15-18 at the Sigma booth Hall 12.0 Booth C139. The post New Scan Head Enables In-Process Quality Control for L-PBF Metal 3D Printers appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 26, 2022 at 09:22AM
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Relativity Space’s New Horizontal Stargate 3D Printer Featured 55X Build Volume https://ift.tt/IoGyfN5 Designed to redefine rocket manufacturing, the latest iteration of Relativity Space’s proprietary additive manufacturing platform is the largest in the world. The company estimates that its Stargate Fourth Generation metal 3D printers will underpin both the development and rate production of Terran R, Relativity’s fully reusable, 3D printed rocket capable of launching 20,000 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO). During the weekend, the rocket manufacturer had hinted that “something big” was coming, and all signs pointed to a new Stargate printer. News of a new generation 3D printing platform coincides with the company’s recently announced 150-acre expansion at NASA Stennis Space Center, which will also be dedicated to testing the brand’s entirely 3D printed Aeon R rocket engines set to power its fully reusable and 3D printed Terran R medium-lift launch vehicle. As the latest addition to a stellar history in metal 3D printing, the new system builds upon the success of previous Stargate printer models. Founders Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone may not have been the first people to think of 3D printing an entire rocket–3D printed parts had already been launched aboard NASA rockets by the time the company made a name for itself–but their determination to bring the manufacturing costs of rockets down from the hundred million to just millions gave it the edge it needed from the start. That edge was Stargate. A massive 3D printer that can make its rockets with 100 times fewer parts in less than 60 days. Using several Kuka robotic arms onto which a laser is mounted and aluminum metal wire fed into the focal point of the laser, components can be 3D printed. To melt and fuse the material during the printing process, Stargate uses a high-powered laser and plasma arc technology. The fourth-generation version of Stargate is powered by customized software, can print more complex, significantly larger metal products seven times faster than earlier-generation Stargate printers, and defies traditional printing constraints by moving horizontally instead of vertically, feeding multiple wires into a single print head. In addition, by increasing 55 times the volume capacity of Stargate third-gen printers, the new model can print objects up to 120 feet long and 24 feet wide. With faster iteration cycles, Stargate printers can accelerate progress and innovation within the aerospace industry while radically simplifying manufacturing supply chains. Additionally, Relativity is developing customized software and machine learning techniques to allow these printers to print more complex and significantly larger metal products with improved print speed and reliability.
Ellis also highlights that with Stargate printers, what would otherwise take traditional space manufacturers years to develop, will be reduced to months due to its highly adaptable, scalable, and automated process, made possible through software-driven manufacturing. For now, Stargate 4th Generation printers will serve as the primary manufacturing infrastructure for Terran R production, creating significant cost reductions for customers downstream. Furthermore, most Terran R components will be printed inside Relativity’s new Long Beach headquarters, dubbed The Wormhole. Currently 33% operational, the factory has several Stargate 4th Generation printers online, with more than a dozen printers planned to be producing Terran R components in the coming months. Each Stargate 4th Generation printer can produce four Terran R rockets per year at the total capacity forecasted run rate. The remainder of The Wormhole will continue to be built out in phases, bringing more printers online and moving more teams into the company’s headquarters as production for Terran R scales. As part of its expansion strategy, Relativity also revealed that in the longer term, the Stargate 4th Gen printers would offer tremendous value-generating potential for other end-product use cases within the trillion-dollar aerospace, aviation, energy, and defense industries as the core of a new tech stack for aerospace products. Straightaway, we can acknowledge that disrupting rocket manufacturing is in Relativity’s DNA, even though the company still hasn’t launched its first demo rocket. So far, it has successfully hot-fired all nine engines of its Terran 1 rocket together for the first time in July of this year. Currently, the first stage of Relativity’s Terran 1 is sitting at its Launch Complex 16 hangar in Port Canaveral, ready to carry out a mission duty cycle (MDC) test before the company integrates the first and second stages of the rocket. Then, in a few weeks, Relativity will make its debut flight in a mission called “Good Luck, Have Fun,” which will journey to orbit without any customer payload. Once the demo launch is complete, Relativity team members will evaluate the insights from the mission and prepare for a second journey to space, this time as part of NASA’s Ventura Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contracts. Terran 1 also has other launch contracts with NASA and forthcoming rideshares from customers like Spaceflight, Iridium, and Momentus. Even though Terran R is still a couple of years away from an initial launch, Relativity has already sold $1.2 billion of launches, with customers like OneWeb and Impulse Space. The post Relativity Space’s New Horizontal Stargate 3D Printer Featured 55X Build Volume appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 26, 2022 at 09:22AM
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3D Printing News Unpeeled: Riven, AddUp and a New 3D Printing Technology for Metals https://ift.tt/WCu9p0F
The post 3D Printing News Unpeeled: Riven, AddUp and a New 3D Printing Technology for Metals appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 26, 2022 at 09:22AM
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Layoffs Continue with 3D Printing Double Unicorn Carbon https://ift.tt/JVlHm4c Amid the continued recession, 3D printing companies are continuing a trend of layoffs. In addition to the likes of Desktop Metal, Fast Radius, and Nexa3D, Xerox has essentially eliminated its Elem Additive business, maintaining it only to support current installations of the firm’s liquid metal 3D printer. The latest firm to reduce its staff is Carbon, makers of digital light synthesis (DLS) 3D printers. Beginning at least 10 days ago, Carbon employees were notified of a worldwide reduction in workforce. A number of experienced individuals turned to LinkedIn to post their unemployment. This included a senior account manager, channel sales director, and senior sales development representative, among others. The Rise of a 3D Printing UnicornWhen it came out of stealth in 2015, Carbon instantly became a sensation as the first company to commercialize continuous digital light processing (DLP) technology. While the speed was what impressed media most, it was also the ability to create end-use parts through a specialty chemical formula combined with heat treatment. This combination of high throughput and engineering-quality materials led to a series of large investments and deals with such companies as adidas, which has since used DLS to produce the midsoles for many series of shoes. Momentum may have slowed both as the scale up did not proceed at the expected pace and due to competitors entering the fray. These included 3D Systems, EnvisionTEC, NEXA, and more. Nevertheless, the company continued to raise funds and its valuation so that, by its Series E round in 2019, it had earned double-unicorn status and, by December 2021, it had taken in $683.4 million in investments. Throughout that time, commentators wondered at what point the firm might go public. Carbon’s SituationBecause Carbon has not gone public, it is difficult to gauge the company’s financial situation unless employees are able to provide any information. When reached for comment, workers that were a part of the lay-offs declined to offer any comment. This contrasts with some other AM firms that engaged in similar restructuring where employees were willing to discuss the internal operations of their former employers anonymously. 3DPrint.com has reached out to Carbon for a comment and will publish one when it is provided. We do know that Carbon has landed important customers like adidas and Osprey. It would be difficult to imagine such large manufacturers simply shifting to another 3D printing system to produce its goods. In particular, adidas is making significant progress with the 3D printing of midsoles, both as a marketing and manufacturing technique. Though the adidas Speedfactory may not have fully taken off, the athletics manufacturer has 3D printed over 100,000 midsoles using Carbon technology. The fact that its former spokesperson, Ye, is also 3D printing shoes suggests that adidas will likely stick with the technology, as well. As recently as August 2022, Carbon still had the cash to purchase 3D printing software firm ParaMatters. Its heavy emphasis on software in recent years indicates that Carbon may see important automation benefits from software that may be less expensive and more easily achieved than new hardware developments. However, it also shifted executives twice in the past two years, with founder Joseph DeSimone first replaced by former DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman. Kullman then stepped aside in May 2022 to become Chair of the Board of Directors. In turn, former Chief Product and Business Development Officer Phil DeSimone and former Chief Technology Officer Craig Carlson became co-CEOs. It’s possible that Kullman was more interested in the materials side of the business, given her ties to DuPont, and took leave when the emphasis on software became clear.
Meanwhile, there is a slew of new photopolymer 3D printing technologies entering the market, such as those from, Desktop Metal, Inkbit, and Azul3D, that may offer benefits that Carbon has yet to introduce. Whether it can keep up with the competition is difficult to say at this point. Re-entering the Job MarketRecognizing that the present economic situation has driven so many layoffs across the industry, AM recruiter Alexander Daniels Global (ADG) has published “Candidate Guide: Preparing to Re-enter the Job Market,” a resource that discusses such topics as prepping one’s resume, understanding salaries, leveraging social media, and other key details. The world is changing at a mind-bending pace, so the standard practices for job seekers may be different than they were even just a few years ago. At the same time, the AM sector is evolving quickly as well, meaning that candidates may not have considered all of the changes that have taken place. Because ADG has job placement as its sole task and the employment market as its only consideration, the group is an excellent source of information for next steps. If anyone has information about this company or any others, feel free to contact the author at michael@3dprint.com. The post Layoffs Continue with 3D Printing Double Unicorn Carbon appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 26, 2022 at 09:22AM
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Bioprinting Industry Worth $1.2B by 2028, says SmarTech Report https://ift.tt/sk5hCDy After years of monitoring the bioprinting industry, a new SmarTech Analysis report estimates that this segment’s market size is expected to reach almost $1.2 billion in 2028, compared with just $182 million today. In “Bioprinting: Markets and Opportunities,” the AM industry analysis firm expects almost 70 percent of the bioprinting industry to come from applications and service revenues and anticipates that bioprinters will bring in around $100 million in revenues by 2031. Bioprinting has evolved since the development of the first bioprinter in the early 2000s to the production of pathology models, tissue design for drug screening, medical research, and regenerative medicine. Although the ideal workflow of bioprinting – which ends with the replacement of functional organs in patients – still needs to overcome several challenges, breakthroughs in bioprinting have already led to advances in microfluidics and organs-on-a-chip, with 3D printed biomaterials increasingly becoming part of medical procedures, such as for bone and graft production. The report also claims that although we are many years from transplanting printed organs, bioprinting is finding a rapidly growing application in drug and cosmetics testing. Using printed tissues and organs avoids the need for animal testing and enables testing on printed tissue and organs that are realistic substitutes for the real thing. Additionally, production-grade bioprinters and reproducible bioprinting applications are coming to the fore, so by 2031, research and development service revenues will clock up almost $250 million in service and applications revenue for bioprinting, which will still only amount to 12 percent of total service and applications revenues in the bioprinting industry.
As SmarTech’s third major report on the topic, it highlights the leading trends in the industry and covers everything from bioprinters to bioprinting applications, including soft robotics, pill printing, and printed food, and examines the long-term prospects for transplanting bioprinted organs. It says that bioprinters will move beyond the currently dominant extrusion and inkjet machines, which account for over 90% of bioprinter revenues today. Moreover, the document states that “by 2031, 15 percent of bioprinter revenues will come from printers based on entirely novel printing technologies.” Through a realistic assessment of bioprinting’s commercial future and a thorough analysis of the companies in the sector, SmarTech determines that technological innovation across the entire bioprinting sector will accelerate. The new report points to three developments in particular as areas of strong commercial potential, for example, organs-on-a-chip. Additionally, it identifies technical trends leading bioprinting forward and will improve patient costs and expand capabilities. One such trend is next-generation bioprinting platforms that have greater capacities, can automate the work, and integrate medical functionality well beyond basic bioprinting. Although the report recognizes over 100 businesses in the bioprinting sector, many of them have negligible revenues, while a select few are incorporating various technologies into their portfolio through mergers and acquisitions, such as 3D Systems and BICO. In this sense, the new SmarTech report provides a realistic assessment of bioprinting’s commercial future, including an analysis of how the major bioprinting companies are designing their marketing strategies. Unraveling the forthcoming bioprinting revolution is critical to a segment that is not without its challenges. Tissues engineered with bioprinting technologies face significant hurdles, like vascularization, higher resolution printers, and more biomaterials. These limitations need to be addressed to achieve the dream goal of creating functional bioprinted constructs for regenerative therapies and transplant purposes. Nevertheless, SmarTech Analysis sees the potential in this sector, and this report sheds light on the bioprinting ecosystem and its role in the wider 3D printing industry as well as the healthcare sector. To learn more or purchase the full report, visit the SmarTech website or contact info@smartechpublishing.com. The post Bioprinting Industry Worth $1.2B by 2028, says SmarTech Report appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/QlN2Iox October 26, 2022 at 09:22AM |
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