The United Launch Alliance, a 50-50 joint venture between Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company formed to provide reliable, cost-efficient access to space for U.S. government missions, announced a shift earlier this year from traditional metallic applications to additive manufacturing using Stratasys Fused Deposition Modeling 3D-printing technology. As a result, ULA will save more than $1 million a year by 3D-printing rocket components from plastic, according to ULA’s program manager for additive manufacturing, Greg Arend. He believes ULA is saving over 50 percent, and in some cases, 95 percent, by 3D- printing rocket components compared with traditional methods.
Now ULA is extending the use of additive manufacturing. “We have just touched the tip of the iceberg with additive manufacturing,” said Kyle Whitlow, structural engineer at ULA. “In the long term, it allows us better, faster, and lighter designs. This is a game-changing technology; it changes how people think and do business.”