Skyrora Cuts Rocket Engine Mass 44% with Titanium 3D Printed Part

Six Live Firings Confirm the Part Survives

UK launch company Skyrora has finished hot-fire testing a 3.5kN low Earth orbit engine built with a titanium-coated component developed through the European Union-funded MADE-3D program. The test campaign included six live firings, and X-ray inspections before and after found no damage to the modified component.

The result is a 44% reduction in engine component weight while keeping durability under real operating temperatures and loads. Skyrora says the manufacturing approach is suited to future propulsion systems.

Jordan McCormick, Design and Test Engineer at Skyrora, said moving promising technologies beyond the laboratory and proving they can perform in real operating environments is "one of the biggest challenges in advanced manufacturing."

Multi-Material AM for Future Launchers

The MADE-3D approach differs from conventional manufacturing by allowing a single component to combine multiple materials within one process. Engineers can tailor different sections of a part for strength, weight, or thermal performance. For launch vehicles, the consortium says this could reduce manufacturing complexity while improving engine efficiency.

Skyrora contributed its expertise in rocket propulsion, additive manufacturing, and engine testing throughout the program. Completing the hot-fire campaign wraps up the company's technical role in MADE-3D while feeding into its ongoing propulsion development work.

Skyrora is developing the Skyrora XL, a three-stage orbital launch vehicle for small satellites, alongside the Skylark L suborbital vehicle and its own AM capabilities. In 2025, Skyrora became the first UK-based launch vehicle manufacturer to receive a launch operator licence from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, permitting a suborbital launch of Skylark L from SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland.

Metal AM Moving Into Flight Hardware

The program centres on substituting a nickel-based alloy for titanium deposited via Skyrora's in-house Skyprint 2 hybrid DED 3D printer. The weight cut is significant, but the real story is that the part passed repeated hot-fire tests.

NASA's Long-Life Additive Manufacturing Assembly project put a DED-printed copper alloy combustion chamber and an iron-nickel superalloy nozzle through 23 hot-fire tests at Marshall Space Flight Center, confirming the components could withstand the extreme heat of flight conditions. US aerospace company Launcher expanded its use of metal AM for its E-2 rocket engine after a thrust chamber assembly hot-fire test milestone at NASA's Stennis Space Center, adding a second Velo3D Sapphire printer capable of processing titanium.

Across these programs, metal AM keeps moving from isolated demonstrations toward engine hardware that has been fired and requalified. Weight and cost each offer a distinct path toward more capable propulsion hardware.