Aerojet Rocketdyne has completed a series of hot-fire tests of a core main injector, which was built using 3-D printing or additive manufacturing technology, at its RL10 upper-stage rocket engine.

During the test, the 3-D printed injector was installed in the RL10 development engine, known as XR708.

Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president Eileen Drake said: "Updating our products to take advantage of the advancements we’ve made in additive manufacturing technology is a key part of our strategy to deliver more affordable products to our customers while at the same time maintain the reliability they’ve come to expect.

"Incorporating this technology will enable us to reduce significantly production lead times and make our products more cost-competitive."

"This successful series of tests validates the rigorous approach we’ve been taking and confirms we are on the right path. Incorporating this technology will enable us to reduce significantly production lead times and make our products more cost-competitive."

The test has been conducted in partnership with the US Air Force and Nasa’s Glenn Research Center under RL10 additive manufacturing study (RAMS) programme, which intends to show the capacities of 3-D printed complex parts and make them eligible for use in large rocket engines.

While making the injector, the company used an additive manufacturing technology called selective laser melting (SLM), which is basically a micro-welding technique that uses a high-powered laser beam to fuse powdered metal to create detailed components that can act under tremendous pressures and operating conditions of rocket engines.

Aerojet Rocketdyne advanced launch programmes director Jay Littles said: "While we have had success developing additive manufacturing technology for a broad range of products, from discrete engine components to hot-fire testing engines and propulsion systems made entirely with additive manufacturing, this is among the most complex components we have tested in a large rocket engine to date.

"However, we’ve just scratched the surface of what this technology will do to revolutionise our industry.

"Our design engineers are just starting to take advantage of the expanded possibilities enabled by this new manufacturing technology. They are now free to design products that were once thought impossible to build due to the constraints of traditional manufacturing."