Air Force Funds 3D-Printing Study for Rocket Engines

3-D Printing of Rocket Engine Cooling Chambers
Johns Hopkins University will use its Air Force award to research 3-D printing of rocket engine cooling chambers. (Image credit: JHU)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force awarded the Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering a $545,000 contract to study additive manufacturing techniques to make cooling chambers for liquid rocket engines, according to a Nov. 4 press release from the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center.

The contract is part of a broader effort to end reliance on a Russian rocket engine that powers United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, which is used to launch a majority of U.S. national security satellites.

In 2014, Congress banned the future use of Russian engines as tensions with Moscow escalated over Russia's incursions into Ukraine. Congress also allocated funding to develop a U.S. alternative to the RD-180, but the Air Force hopes to fund work on a brand new rocket as part of its broader strategy to have competition in military launches. [3D-Printing and Space Travel: A Photo Gallery]

As an initial step, the Air Force is pursuing two aims: reducing the cost of rocket propulsion components and subsystems through the use of new materials and additive manufacturing; and enhancing its overall launch capabilities while lowering costs through improvements to existing rockets or by developing new ones.

The service has said it wants improvements that can be completed in less than two years.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

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Editor-in-Chief, Sightline Media

Mike Gruss is a veteran defense reporter and Editor-in-Chief of Sightline Media Group, which includes Army Times, Air Force Times, Dense News, Military Times and Navy Times. From 2013 to 2016, Mike served as a Senior Staff Writer for SpaceNews covering national security space programs and military space policy in the U.S. Congress. Mike earned a bachelor's degree in English and American Studies from Miami University and has previously wrote for the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the Virginian-Pilot in Virginia before joining SpaceNews. Prior to joining Sightline in 2017, he was a senior editor of FedTech magazine covering technology in federal government. You can see Mike's latest project on Twitter.