Case Study: Lockheed Martin achieves repeatable, cost-saving Orion parts production with Stratasys 3D printing

Lockheed Martin saves orders of magnitude in cost and schedule with Stratasys 3D printing

Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for NASA's Orion spacecraft, faced the challenge of manufacturing parts for deep space missions that required rigorous repeatability, structural integrity, and a specific electro-static dissipative (ESD) capability not available in existing flight-qualified polymers. They partnered with vendor Stratasys to utilize their new Antero™ (ESD) material, a high-performance PEKK-based polymer, printed on a Stratasys Fortus 900mc system.

The solution implemented by Stratasys provided a material with the necessary ESD properties, high strength, and low outgassing, eliminating the need for additional post-processing like coatings. This resulted in orders of magnitude savings in both cost and schedule for Lockheed Martin. The successful use of the material on a large, one-meter diameter docking hatch cover for Orion has paved the way for its application on other vehicle systems and established a proof of concept for production-grade 3D printed parts on crewed space missions.

Lockheed Martin