First UK firing of an additively manufactured metal combustion chamber

This UKSA Pathfinder programme is evaluating the use of CuCrZr and the SLM process for manufacturing high-performance bipropellant rocket engines. The results from this chamber will be used to verify AEL's in-house rocket engine modelling software and design principles, and will feed into further chambers for flight applications. It will also be used as a general purpose chamber for injector and propellant testing.

As far as we know, this firing was the first UK firing of a whole additively manufactured metal combustion chamber, and the first European firing of an additively manufactured copper chamber. Our thanks go to our manufacturing partner 3T AM, and the UKSA for funding this research.