During the last two years, China has led the world in orbital launches, and 2020 seems to continue along that trend as the country’s space agency sends major exploration missions to space.

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Taking the first step in its planetary quest of the solar system, China sent a Long March 5-rocket to Mars. Not only is this its first launch vehicle designed from the ground up to focus on non-hypergolic liquid rocket propellants, but it also incorporates additively manufactured parts.

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For the job, local 3D printing system supplier Farsoon Technologies used a laser sintering platform and high-performance material to produce 50 parts for the rocket’s static firing skirt. On July 23, the Long March-5 rocket blasted off Hainan Island’s Wenchang Space Launch Center, just miles off the coast of China’s mainland, carrying an orbiter, lander, and rover that will aim to tackle questions about the Red Planet’s geology, environment, and […]

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