supplierScore 85/100Watch
Rocket Lab to be world's first customer of largest-ever metal 3D printer, printing full Archimedes engine in one build
“There's actually a really really big machine... it basically can do a whole Archimedes engine in one print... we're the first customer of it in the world.”
Why it matters
Single-print production of the full Archimedes engine (Beck's height, ~3.5-day print times) dramatically reduces part count, labor, and cycle time for Neutron's engine — a direct cost and throughput lever for Rocket Lab's medium-lift launch economics.
Investment implication
Bullish for RKLB manufacturing scalability into Neutron ramp; also watch large-format laser powder bed fusion suppliers (e.g., Velo3D, Nikon SLM, EOS) as industrial metal AM demand from space programs grows.