Chicago-headquartered aerospace manufacturers Boeing (LOD:BOE) has revealed they will utilize 3D printing to manufacture future satellites. In an effort to increase turnaround time and lower costs of production, Boeing will use additive manufacturing to create modular components. At the beginning of January 2017 the company alsoenlisted Oxford Performance Materials to 3D print parts for their CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
To produce more than 10 satellites per year
讲话Wall Street Journal波音卫星业务负责人保罗·鲁斯诺克（Paul Rusnock）解释了该方法将如何保持波音在这个市场中的竞争力。波音公司当前的卫星制造技术需要许多工人，这意味着该公司每年生产的卫星少于10个卫星。通过采用增材制造，该公司将能够以更具竞争力的价格提高生产率。
3D打印在生产卫星方面也具有许多优势，因为波兰公司Satrevolution最近宣布了以这种方式制造设备的计划。Satrevolution打算在其祖国建立卫星生产设施以生产Poland’s first ever satellite using 3D printing.
More competitive market
The global satellite market is becoming more saturated with a new-found accessibility. Standardization of satellite size has strengthened accessibility to space, leading to more companies producing the devices. This is something Sir Martin Sweeting, of Surrey Satellites Technology, touched upon last year when在瓜达拉哈拉的国际航空大会上讲话.
接近卫星市场的公司的增长鼓励波音公司适应其制造过程。通过3D打印，该公司将能够自动化制造过程的一部分，并加速定制零件的创建。
此外，模块化卫星的生产反映了市场的动态方面。据报道，波音公司的客户经常表示希望使用最新技术推出升级的卫星。这意味着模块化卫星的较短寿命不会构成问题。保罗·鲁斯诺克（Paul Rusnock）还解释说，3D打印的模块化零件将减少生产错误，因为它们是“easier to put together”.
3D打印的无限空间
3D printing opens up new possibilities for satellite technology, as we’ve seen with Italian company D-Orbit. The satellite system manufacturers plan to launch alow-earth orbit satellite that can fly back to earthwhen it is no longer needed. This addresses the growing problem of space junk, which is a result of decommissioned satellites left to float in space.
It is possible that such satellites may even be launched from the UK within the next few years with theintroduction of a spaceport by the year 2020.
3D打印行业will be present at theAdditive Manufacturing for Aerospace, Defence and Space conference本周在伦敦。该活动将有来自波音，美国宇航局和空中客车公司等公司的代表，因此请继续关注我们的社交媒体和sign up to the newsletterfor updates.
特色图片显示波音的卫星家庭。通过波音图像。
