Case Study: Aerojet Rocketdyne cuts thruster weight and cost with nTopology

Aerojet Rocketdyne builds a 67% lighter thruster with nTopology

Aerojet Rocketdyne, a world-class aerospace manufacturer, faced the challenge of redesigning a legacy Reaction Control System (RCS) quad thruster for NASA's Artemis mission. Their objective was to significantly lower the cost and weight of the component to enable production of over 600 units, a goal that was difficult to achieve using traditional CAD software. They turned to nTop and its advanced design capabilities to overcome these modeling limitations.

Using nTop's implicit modeling engine and field-driven design, Aerojet Rocketdyne implemented a shell-and-infill lattice structure that was impossible to create with their previous tools. This solution from nTop resulted in a manufacturing-ready thruster that was 67% lighter and 66% less expensive to produce. The part also achieved a 2.5x factor of safety and a 5x thrust-to-weight ratio, modernizing the design while improving both affordability and performance.

Aerojet Rocketdyne