Skyrora has begun testing its 3D-printed spacerocket engines in the UK.
The company plans to run its rocket designs every week throughout the summer. This will involve a series of “full-duration” tests designed to emulate what is required for a rocket to reach the Earth’s orbit, 250 seconds of engine fire.
The tests will take place at Skyrora’s site in Midlothian, Scotland, which sits in an abandoned quarry.
“The new models of 3D-printed engines are bringing Skyrora closer towards efficient commercial orbital launch. With our purpose-built rocket manufacturing and testing facilities in Scotland, we are proud to be localising as much of the launch value chain as possible,” Skyrora CEO Volodymyr Levykin said.
Skyrora has posted a video of one of the static engine tests in action on its YouTube channel.
How are 3D-printed rocket engines made?
Most of us associate 3D printing with plastic arts and craft creations, or enthusiasts using the tech to create replacement parts. However, Skyrora’s Skyprint 2 creates rocket components using Inconel, a nickel-chromium metal alloy able to withstand extremely high temperatures while retaining strength.
Skyprint 2 was hailed the “largest hybrid 3D printer” in Europe at its launch in late 2021.
Skyrora says this 3D-printed approach reduces the time taken to create core rocket components from 10 weeks to two weeks.
It plans to get its 70Nm rocket design ready for full commercial launches of the Skyrora XL, a 22.7-metre-long rocket ship with payload capacity of up to 315 kilograms.
These launches won’t take place in Midlothian, though, but at the Shetland Islands’ SaxaVord Spaceport. Skyrora applied to the UK Civil Aviation Authority for a licence for this in August 2022. The company estimates this could take between nine and 18 months, although it could be approved any time now.
Such flights will not be used for space tourism, but to carry objects such as satellites up into orbit.
The state of UK space flight
Skyrora is a bright hope for UK space tech, after Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in April 2023.
This followed the dramatic failure of the company’s rocket launch in January 2023. Former Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in February that the failure of the rocket’s launch may have been down to an £80 filter.
“Everything points to, right now, a filter that was clearly there when we assembled the rocket but was not there as the second stage engine started,” Hart said during the SmallSat Symposium, as reported by SpaceNews. “This is like a $100 part that took us out.”
Skyrora is a much smaller, and newer, operation than Virgin Orbit, which raised an estimated £370 million in funding. This included a £9.5 million grant from the UK Space Agency.
Skyrora received an estimated £2.5 million in funding from the European Space Agency in March 2021 and a similar-sized grant in August 2022. This was on top of £25.5 million of earlier Series A venture capital funding, according to Crunchbase.
“It’s impressive to see how innovative British-based companies such as Skyrora are using UK Space Agency funding to develop sector-leading technologies. The new 3D-printed engines are setting new standards in cost-effective sustainable design and manufacturing efficiency,” said Dr Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency.
