EOS, a leading technology supplier in industrial 3D printing for metals and polymers, announced its ongoing support for the Texas Rocket Engineering Lab (TREL) at The University of Texas (UT). EOS is providing TREL—a collegiate rocket laboratory committed to providing students the resources and guidance needed to succeed in the New Space Industry—with CAD training, professional counsel, material resources and 3D printing of advanced rocketry components that are lighter and allow for more complicated geometry than traditional machined parts.

These components will be mission critical to TREL’s Halcyon rocket—a 28-foot-tall liquid bipropellant rocket designed to fly to the edge of space —for the Base11 Space Challenge. The Base11 Challenge is an international competition that tasks student-led teams with launching a liquid-bipropellant, single-stage rocket to the Karman Line, which, at an altitude of 100 kilometers, would shatter the previous collegiate altitude record for a liquid bipropellant rocket by 30x.

As the students take on this challenge, EOS will provide design and production support to produce the rocket’s “Havoc” engine— a regeneratively cooled, LOx–RP-1 fueled, state-of-the-art engine with a unique regenerative cooling geometry configured for additive manufacturing. In addition to the Havoc engine powering the rocket, EOS will help produce aerodynamic fins to control Halcyon during flight.

“The space industry already relies heavily on 3D printing, and today’s university students are the pipeline to advancing the industry bringing with them both the knowledge necessary to thrive and the AM mindset to successfully engineer and create ideas never before possible” said Patrick Boyd, marketing director at EOS. “We decided long ago to play our part in supporting TREL and similar university teams across North America, helping ensure their success and providing them direct access to our AM expertise and technology – the most direct way we can augment their studies and projects.”

EOS’ support has enabled TREL to undertake an ambitious design for Halcyon as well as furthered TREL’s greater mission to incubate the next generation of aerospace pioneers. “Working on the EOS Havoc engine has been a highlight of my college experience,” said Lauren Rodriguez, a third-year student at UT and lead propulsion engineer for TREL. “With EOS, I have been able to learn so much about advanced additive manufacturing capabilities and rocket engine fabrication, which are subjects you can’t learn in a classroom. By designing, building, and testing our own 3D prints, we are able to push forward the leading edge of rocket engine development.”

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