3D printing in Space: Laser sintering process and composite material helped Portland State Aerospace Society's OreSat0 CubeSat Get to Orbit

Kilogram-class satellites, like CubeSats, now have functionality that were only available in larger 100 to 1,000 kg class satellites. Recently, 3D printing has helped speed up this revolution, especially in universities.
CubeSats have been launched by dozens of countries, universities and companies all around the world. And the state of Oregon joined them recently thanks to the Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) that built OreSat0, their very own artisanally hand-crafted CubeSat system, currently in low Earth orbit.

This achievement was possible thanks to the use of Windform LX 3.0 and industrial 3D printing L-PBF (Selective Laser Sintering) in their most critical subsystems.

Windform LX 3.0 is a glass fiber reinforced material from the Windform TOP-LINE range of composite materials created by CRP Technology.
For OreSat0 project, 3D printing process and Windform LX 3.0 were supplied by CRP USA.
Windform LX 3.0 allowed the PSAS team to use 3D printing on their critical parts, including their extremely reliable deployer for their tri-band turnstile antenna.
The antenna has three separate antennas (UHF at 436.5 MHz, L band at 1.265 GHz, and L1 at 1.575 GHz) each with 4 elements; all 12 of these elements are deployed using nylon monofilament lines and only a single melt resistor.
Moreover, thanks to CRP's Windform LX 3.0, PSAS members were able to mount their star tracker sensor and lens on a small daughterboard that kept the entire assembly to a single 10 mm tall card form factor.
The composite material and Laser Sintering were used for battery back as well: The battery pack needed to reliably hold 18650 cells through vibration testing while also providing thermal and electrical insulation from the rest of the satellite. Windform LX 3.0 allowed PSAS to make an extremely compact battery assembly that was still extremely rugged.
Before integration into the launch vehicle, OreSat0 was subjected to the following testing: Three axis 14 g random vibration, -40 to +80 °C thermal cycling, and vacuum cycling. Windform performed flawlessly for all of these tests.

The PSAS team, state "Windform LX 3.0 absolutely changed the way we design all parts of our satellite thanks to its characteristics: Windform LX 3.0 can be used in space; it has extremely good material properties; it is extremely easy to work with; it is far superior to other 3D printing materials, including the other FDM, SLA, and SLS technologies that we've used."

crp-usa.net
windform.com
pdxaerospace.com

Veronica Negrelli Press Officer
CRP USA LLC
127 Goodwin Circle
Mooresville, NC 28115
USA

CRP USA is located in Mooresville, North Carolina, and specializes in 3D printing with the Windform family of high-performance materials. With its roots in Formula One Racing, CRP USA produces on-car prototype and end-use components for racing teams and automotive manufacturers. It has taken this expertise to new heights to produce parts for the Aerospace, Defense, Industrial Robotics, and Entertainment industries.

This release was published on openPR.