3-D Printing in the Commercial Space Market Will Reach $2.1 Billion

A new report released by SmarTech Analysis forecasts that the market for 3-D printing in the commercial space sector will grow to $2.1 billion by 2026.

The report, "3-D Printing in Commercial Space: The AM (Additive Manufacturing) Ecosystem in the Private Space Industry", offers insights into commercial space activity where 3D printing technology is thriving and focuses on the opportunities that are emerging for the AM components that are being fabricated for satellites and launch vehicles. Driven by the changing demands and conditions of the global commercial space industry the overall value of 3-D printed parts for private space is projected to reach $2.1B in 2026, going on to reach $5.4B by 2031. The private sector is successfully embracing AM to enhance part optimization to reduce both weight and costs. SmarTech believes that this trend will, in turn, accelerate launch time for spacecraft.

With the enhanced interest in 3D printing spacecraft components, a surge in global space ventures, and a peak in space industry investment, SmarTech anticipates that 3-D printing will eventually help build satellites, rockets, and off-Earth structures that will enable future missions to the Moon, Mars, and deep space. This report identifies important new revenue sources for the AM industry based on these trends.

This report sets out the key industry trends involving 3-D printing in the private space sector as well as the leading companies in the 3-D printing industry supplying the technology and the space startups using it. Companies profiled in this study include VELO3D, EOS, AMCM, Zortrax, Stratasys, Markforged, 3D Systems, Desktop Metal, ExOne, GE Additive, HP, Materialise, SLM Solutions, Renishaw, DMG Mori, Trumpf, AML3D, Carbon, EnvisionTEC, voxeljet, and Nano Dimension.

According to the report, satellites, rocket engines, and other high-performance parts have already benefited from AM technology. AM parts for space will grow to roughly 2.2% of all structural space parts by the end of our ten-year forecast period. As more launch vehicles become available to deliver payloads to orbit towards the second half of the 2020s, the demand for 3-D-printed parts with complex geometries and designs will increase.

The revenues from additive manufacturing segments of the private space– i.e., metal and polymer hardware and materials and global 3-D printing services –is expected to reach $1.2 billion by the end of the forecast period.

The report also offers a ten-year forecast of the annual value of additive manufacturing segments for the space industry and how much they are expected to grow by the end of the forecast period, as well as the value of additively manufactured parts alone.

(Source: SmarTech Analysis news release. Graphic Provided. Image from file)