Boeing Creates the First 3D Printed Metal Satellite Antenna. Saves on Mass, Time and Costs https://ift.tt/2FDtYVf Boeing satellite engineers recently created what is possibly the first ever 3D printed metal antenna for a satellite that will be sent into space on the AMOS 17. Now being built by Boeing, it wasn’t originally designed to have a 3D printed antenna. However, this development shows one how quickly such flight-proven additive manufacturing materials and processes are changing how complex space systems are built. Boeing’s team of satellite engineers decided to use the technology to develop the one-of-a-kind, custom made design late in the project. The antenna itself is crucial for the space-bound communications sat and might prove useful for subsequent projects. The soon-to-be-launched AMOS 17 is being built for Spacecom, an Israeli firm which provides broadcast and communication services to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The launch, scheduled for the second quarter of 2019, will send the AMOS 17, a multi-band state-of-the-art satellite, to space where it will be the most advanced high-throughput satellite to provide communication services.
Boeing data estimates that additive manufacturing is making possible decreases in satellite parts quantity, which are reducing average spacecraft component weight by more than 30 percent. The aft command antenna was manufactured from aluminum alloy powder using selective laser sintering. Test versions were output on both an SLM Solutions SLM280 and an EOS M290 printer. The antenna will receive signals in Ku-band delivering commands from the ground for the Boeing 702 model satellite. Equipped with a flexible digital payload and powered by two deployable solar arrays, the 5,500 kilos satellite will have a lifetime of at least 19 years.
Although additive manufacturing was not originally part of the AMOS 17 project, Boeing has been turning to 3D printing for the manufacture of satellites for some years. They have been trying to incorporate that kind of speed into their satellite and spacecraft business, and with the new antenna, that’s just what they did. In 2017 Boeing applied additive manufacturing technology to the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft to reduce mass, cost and cycle time. The first significant application of additive manufacturing in this area of Boeing was to the SES-15 communications spacecraft, where a multi-skilled team of individuals led by Richard Aston, applied additive manufacturing in concert with new composite and adhesive materials yielding a lightweight, low cost and thermally stable design solution for a nadir surface-mounted optical bench.
The motivation to use 3D printing came from Boeing, as suggested by the AMOS 17 program manager, Sharon Krakover, making the top aerospace maker a competitive force against some of the newcomers that have been using 3D printing abundantly, such Space X, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Stratolaunch Systems. Now Boeing’s engineers are facing the challenge of scaling up the use of additive manufacturing for the many projects they are undertaking in the new commercial space race. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 29, 2019 at 12:18AM
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