Aerospace & Defense

One small step for man, one giant step for 3D printing in free space: SpaceX launched its first Twilight rideshare mission of 2026, including an experiment testing whether a structure can be manufactured directly in space using 3D printing. The…

Last October, U.S. troops demonstrated just how far additive manufacturing has come by successfully 3D printing drone parts inside a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter mid-flight. As the aircraft carried out tactical maneuvers, the printer continued to operate, producing functional components…

A geometric model developed through a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics has just become the focus of one of the most remarkable experiments ever carried out in space. These “soft cells”…

How often do you hear about 3D-printed structures undergoing live ballistic trials? In India, the Army’s Trishakti Corps has pushed construction 3D printing into defense terrain, deploying a robotic concrete 3D printer across forward areas in northern Sikkim and adjoining…

ASC and Austal have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the use of additive manufacturing across Australia’s naval programs. Announced at the 2025 Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, the partnership focuses on strengthening the domestic AM…

When pilots and astronauts go into flight, their bodies are pushed into environments far more extreme than anything experienced on the ground. To better understand how humans respond under these intense conditions, researchers at Texas A&M University, supported by the…

China’s push toward next-generation propulsion reached a major milestone this month as the country’s aviation engine group announced the successful first flight test of its newly developed 3D printed “minimalist” turbojet engine. The achievement signals a significant step forward for…

A rotating detonation engine is a kind of propulsion system that has been theorized about and researched for years, but this design only existed on paper and in prototypes. This year, a team of engineers at RTX built and tested…

While bioprinting usually takes place in controlled Earth-based labs, researchers at ETH Zurich have taken the technology to new heights, quite literally. In a new experiment, the Swiss team successfully 3D printed human muscle tissue during parabolic flights that simulate…

UK-based rocket manufacturer Skyrora is spearheading a new European Space Agency (ESA) project that has the potential to redefine propulsion manufacturing. In collaboration with Metalysis and Thermo-Calc Solutions, the company is developing and 3D printing a new high-temperature alloy called…

The United States Navy faces a formidable challenge: by 2028, it must deliver one Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and two Virginia-class attack submarines each year, all while maintaining its existing fleet. To meet this ambitious goal, the responsibility falls to…

Singapore is advancing its position as a global aerospace hub with the launch of Phase Two of the Smart Manufacturing Joint Lab (SMJL), a partnership between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Rolls-Royce, and Singapore Aero Engine Services…