
Steel entered space
On May 30, 2024, steel officially entered the space age! A 3D steel printer printed its first steel component on the International Space Station—a small S-curve— from liquefied stainless steel and proved that 3D steel additive manufacturing, the process of constructing an object one layer at a time, can be done in space.
Rob Postema, ESA technical officer, is enthusiastic: “The success of this first print, along with other reference lines, leaves us ready to print full parts in the near future.”
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