NASA Marshall Advances 3D Printed Rocket Engine Nozzle Technology

By Jerry Underwood
Made in Alabama

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama have developed and tested a new 3-D printing technique to make rocket engine nozzles in a way that greatly reduces costs and development time.

The nozzles, which operate in extreme temperatures and pressures as the rocket engine fires, are complex and expensive to manufacture.

The new NASA-patented technology has the potential to slash build time for this critical component from several months to several weeks. “What makes this development project even more unique is there were three separate, state-of-the-art, advanced manufacturing technologies used together to build a better nozzle and prove it out through hot-fire testing — an example of why Marshall continues to be a worldwide leader in manufacturing of propulsion technologies,” said Preston Jones, director of the Engineering Directorate at Marshall in Huntsville.

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