SAN FRANCISCO – Rosotics unveiled a metal 3D printer July 17 for rocket tanks and other large aerospace structures.
“This system is designed for demanding applications as well as the more commonplace ones,” Christian LaRosa, founder and CEO of Mesa, Arizona-based Rosotics, told SpaceNews. “You can use it to print a first or second stage tank. You could use it for domes or engines.”
In 2023, Rosotics built Mantis, a 3D printer to heat feedstock with a magnetic field in the nozzle. Mantis is now obsolete, LaRosa said, since the new Halo platform is designed for production.
Aerospace forms the bulk of Rosotics’ business. Customers also are focused on naval and energy applications for the additive manufacturing technology.
CEO Christian LaRosa with one of Rosotics’ induction-based metal additive manufacturing machines. Credit: Rosotics
First Customer
Phantom Space, the Tucson, Arizona-based startup manufacturing satellites and launch vehicles, is Rosotics’ first customer.
“We’re pretty impressed with the capability they’re building,” said Jim Cantrell, Phantom Space co-founder and CEO. “Small-format 3D printing is ideal for things with complex internal structures like rocket engines. The true limitation is speed, cost of the machine and the cost of facilities.”
In contrast, Rosotics technology is “ideal for industrial-scale production of things like rocket tanks,” Cantrell said. “We’ll see how we can implement their technology here in the shop and we’ll be buying one of their machines.”
The retail price for Halo machines is $950,000. Rosotics plans to begin delivering Halo to customers in the United States and Europe in late August.
Down the road, Halo could have space-based applications.
“This platform was developed from the ground up to consume a lot less power than any other form of production in metals,” LaRosa said. “We take the space market very seriously, beyond what it is today.”
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