In the design of the LizzieSat, they have applied Markforged’s composite 3D printing technology to the entire structure of the 31 x 31 x 18 inch satellite, harnessing the company’s Onyx FR and Onyx FR-A materials on eight vertical and eight horizontal components that hold in place a honeycomb structure. But it is one they backed themselves to overcome with the combination of their engineering prowess and 3D printing technology. This has represented a significant challenge for Boschi and the Sidus team, especially since integral componentry like batteries and computers take up a significant portion of the satellite's overall weight. The partially printed LizzieSat constellation will launch for the first time later this year on the SpaceX Transporter-9, if it weighs less 100kg. Sidus Space was founded by Carol Craig, a former US Navy officer who became the first woman eligible to fly combat aircraft in the US Navy, to carry customer sensors and collect data for a multitude of different customers at the same time. That the parts survived on the ISS with next to no degradation emboldened Sidus Space to push forward with the idea of producing the structure of its LizzieSat satellites with 3D printing. These days, as Lead Design Checker at Sidus Space, he has printed sample holder parts in Markforged’s Onyx carbon fiber-filled nylon material that formed part of a flight test platform installed on the outside of the International Space Station(ISS) for a year. “It was one of the greatest things in the world,” he recalls thinking. When he first used the technology, for example, he and his colleagues took to squirting hairspray on stereolithography (SLA) parts to prevent the sticky texture they were left with when coming out of the printer, and in turn allowing any paint applied to the components to dry faster. As he extols the virtues of the technology facilitating a satellite weighing less than 100kg, Tony Boschi shows the depth of his experience with the repeated use of two words: rapid prototyping.īoschi has been working with 3D printing technology for so long, that he not only refers to the processes using that phrase, but he also has the war stories.

T slot covers 3d printer