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Manufacturing has been one of the hottest category in speculation this year , but there are still many innovative materials and processes yet to scale . One example is thermoset composite , materials widely used in aerospace and defence due to their high oestrus opposition and light weight , but which typically have longsighted jumper lead times and high prices for client .
Raven Space Systems , a inauguration based in Kansas City , Missouri , pronounce it has developed a young physical process to activate the first scalable 3-D printing of commercial , off - the - ledge thermoset composite components .
“ We ’re essentially unlocking an total field of 3D printing to production scale , ” Raven carbon monoxide gas - founder and CEO Blake Herren allege in a late interview . “ We ’re aim these off - the - ledge stuff that have been proven for both body structure and thermal protection applications , and automating the nigh net shape production by 3D print them for the first fourth dimension . ”
Raven is able to do this using a technology they ’ve patent call Microwave Assisted Deposition ( MAD ) 3D printing process . Usually thermoset composites require hours or even day in an oven to indurate or bring around , but the MAD process essentially cures the materials during the printing process process , a morsel like laser - base metallic element linear printing process .
Herren and his co - laminitis , Ryan Cowdrey , started working on the technology while grad bookman at the University of Oklahoma . Around the clip they graduated , they landed about a million clam in grant through the Small Business Innovation and Research program to take the MAD 3-D impression concept from whiteboard to prototype . Since 2020 , Raven has scored around $ 4.5 million of non - dilutive contracts from the Air Force , NASA , the National Science Foundation and other awards .
To take the technology to the next level , the inauguration also just closed a $ 2 million pre - seed turn led by Backswing Ventures with involvement from 46 Venture Capital , Mana Ventures , What If speculation , and Cape Fear Ventures .
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The novel capital will go toward the company ’s first full - exfoliation manufacturing lines : production - scale 3D printers , mixing systems , and machining . By the 2nd quarter of next year , Raven aims to move out of its 3,000 - hearty - ft installation and into a larger manufactory certified for aerospace product . There , they ’ll set forth manufacturing components for client , starting with smaller factor and scaling up from there .
Raven ’s go - to - market scheme is to render caloric protection components for solid rocket motor and hypersonic vessels ab initio , because that ’s where the two co - father saw need from the Department of Defense , Herren say .
“ We ’re not the world power we once were , ” he said . “ There ’s a monolithic need there — provision chain , bottle - neck issues , everybody has a hair - on - fire trouble with these thermic shelter and structure material . ”
In these manufacture , “ there are not enough supplier , ” he said . Of the provider that do exist , many work on in outdated factories using methods dating back tenner . Herren said scaling the newfangled 3D printing process will go manus in bridge player with building a next - gen mill , in parliamentary law to reduce lead times to day instead of several months or over a year .
“ I remember the industrial base requires implement package and robotics into our manufactory to solve these supplying chain issues and , frankly , compete globally , ” he said .
Beyond hypersonics and rockets , the society has also had conversations with self-reliant systems providers , orbiter manufacturers , and place actuation companies . Earlier this workweek , the company declare it was partnering with reentry capsule developer SpaceWorks to develop 3D - printed reentry vehicle aeroshells — the structure that encapsulates the spacecraft and provides the thermal protection — to activate the DOD to test hypersonic tech .
The tech is still other , in that there are still tech challenges necessitate with scaling it to print big structures , Herren admits , but “ once it ’s fully explicate , I see this as changing the way we make tumid - ordered series composites . ”
“ It ’s travel to take some uppercase and time to descale up to the very large system that this can be used for … But right now , it ’s simple , pocket-sized parts , using designs that are deliver by client , and work the supply chain issues by really develop the most effective production lines that we can . ”
