Case Study: Aerojet Rocketdyne achieves 67% weight reduction and 66% cost savings with nTopology

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s 3D Printed Quad Thruster Enables Low-Cost Space Exploration

Aerojet Rocketdyne, a leading aerospace propulsion manufacturer supporting NASA’s Artemis program, faced the challenge of modernizing a legacy Reaction Control System (RCS) quad thruster injector block to cut mass, cost, and lead time for hundreds of thrusters. To meet aggressive weight and cost targets while moving beyond Apollo-era designs, the team used nTopology’s generative and field‑driven design tools to enable advanced lightweighting and manufacturability strategies.

Using nTopology, Aerojet Rocketdyne consolidated the injector assembly into a single part, applied a shell-and-infill approach with variable‑thickness lattices and fillets, and prepared the design for additive manufacture in Titanium 6Al‑4V (built on Velo3D). The result: a 67% mass reduction, a 66% reduction in production cost, a 5x improvement in thrust‑to‑weight, dramatically shorter lead times (3 days for the printed component), and improved factor of safety — demonstrating nTopology’s impact on performance, cost, and producibility.

Aerojet Rocketdyne

James Horton

Mission Architect