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3D printer technology that significantly reduces cost and time in the spacecraft development field is attracting attention. A Korean research team made a launch vehicle engine with a 3D printer and succeeded in an actual combustion test.
What this means, reporter Jung Gu-hee reports.
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Blue flames come out with a roar.
It is the most important 'combustor' among engines, which is the heart of a projectile.
It was a 10-second test, but the main features such as propulsion, fuel injection and cooling system all passed.
[Yigiju / KARI small projectile charge: Now testing conditions only equipped if not 10 seconds what can take 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and even (target time of) 500 sec]
of the rocket with fuel methane, soot is hardly We got the result of one stone and two sets of reusability.
This combustor is made with 3D printing technology that produces parts with complex structures as if they were printed out.
By reducing hundreds of parts to just four, we cut costs by a third.
[Lim Ha-young / Anti-Hook-yeon Projectile Propulsion Control Team: This is a machined injector. There are 18 of these in that combustor, but 3D printing can take them and make them at once.]
Companies like Rocket Lab in the US are already launching projectiles made with 3D printers into space.
These are small commercial satellites for communication, photography, and environmental monitoring, which are in increasing demand recently.
By 2030, it is expected that about 13,000 such small satellites will be launched, more than three times the current number.
As such, the demand for small launch vehicles will also increase rapidly, and Korea is planning to launch a small launch vehicle carrying a satellite into space orbit in 2029.
(Video editing: Jeon Min-gyu, VJ: Kim Hyung-jin, screen source: PLANET Rocket lab)