We’re thrilled to share groundbreaking news from our partners at Eplus3D — the unveiling of the world’s largest single-piece 3D printed rocket thruster, a true milestone in metal additive manufacturing.

Standing at over 1.3 meters tall, this massive 200kN rocket engine was manufactured using the Eplus3D EP-M650-1600, a metal powder bed fusion printer renowned for its exceptionally large build volume and industrial-scale capabilities.

The design was developed by Josefine Lissner using the LEAP 71 Noyron Large Computational Engineering Model — a powerful evolution of the Noyron TKL-5 thruster, previously hot-fired in June, but now scaled up to be 40 times more powerful.

This project was the result of a close collaboration with Eplus3D Additive Manufacturing, turning an ambitious and complex concept into reality.

The rocket engine was printed entirely from aluminum, a notoriously difficult material in propulsion systems due to thermal control challenges. The design overcomes this with a dual cooling strategy, utilizing cryogenic liquid oxygen for regenerative cooling in the main combustion chamber and kerosene for the upper section of the nozzle.

The thruster was produced in one continuous 354-hour printing process, without any post-processing. The surface finish as printed is remarkable — setting a new standard for quality in large-scale metal 3D printing.

This innovation demonstrates the extraordinary potential of additive manufacturing for producing large, functionally integrated parts tailored for challenging aerospace applications.

Visitors to Formnext 2024 will be able to see the engine up close at the Eplus3D booth (Hall 12.0 – Booth E101). The rocket thruster will be exhibited in its original condition, as it appeared directly after unpacking at Eplus3D’s Beijing facility.

The project was also built upon PicoGK, LEAP 71’s compact and robust geometry kernel for Computational Engineering.

Stay tuned — the official press release will follow.