Mission to the Moon: Stratasys Joins Forces with Lockheed Martin and PADT to Engineer Advanced 3D Printed Parts for NASA’s Orion Mission

Stratasys 3D printers and materials provide extremely high levels of
strength, durability and thermal properties to power missions to deep
space

Variant of new Stratasys Antero™ 800NA, PEKK-based material offers
electro-static dissipative (ESD) functionality for advanced mechanical,
chemical, and thermal properties

MINNEAPOLIS & REHOVOT, Israel & TEMPE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Stratasys
Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS), a global leader in applied additive technology
solutions, and Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies, Inc. (PADT)
jointly announced the companies are teaming with Lockheed Martin Space
to deliver next-generation 3D printed parts for NASA’s Orion deep-space
spacecraft. Key to the project are Stratasys advanced materials –
including an ESD variant of the new Antero™ 800NA, a PEKK-based
thermoplastic offering high performance mechanical, chemical, and
thermal properties.

Orion is NASA’s spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and
beyond. Orion’s next test flight, dubbed Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1),
will be the first integration mission with the world’s most powerful
rocket, the Space Launch System, where an un-crewed Orion will fly
thousands of miles beyond the Moon during an approximately three week
mission.

The following flight, EM-2, will also go near the Moon, but with
astronauts on board, a first since 1972 and will enable NASA to prepare
for increasingly complex missions in deep space. The mission will use
more than 100 3D printed production parts on board, engineered in
conjunction with Lockheed Martin, Stratasys and PADT.

The production-grade, thermoplastic 3D printed parts for NASA’s Orion
vehicle are produced at the Additive Manufacturing Lab at Lockheed
Martin in conjunction with PADT, which now employs the latest in
Stratasys 3D printers and materials. Using advanced materials such as
ULTEM 9085™ resin and the new Antero material incorporating critical
electro-static dissipative (ESD) functionality – NASA could meet key
requirements for 3D printed parts to perform in the extremes of deep
space. Antero is ideally suited to meet NASA’s requirements for heat and
chemical resistance, along with the ability to withstand high mechanical
loads.

“Working with PADT, Stratasys, and NASA has enabled us to achieve highly
consistent builds that move beyond the realm of prototyping and into
production,” said Brian Kaplun, Manager of Additive Manufacturing at
Lockheed Martin Space. “We’re not just creating parts, we’re reshaping
our production strategy to make spacecraft more affordable and faster to
produce.”

The Lockheed Martin, Stratasys and PADT-engineered collaboration is
differentiated by an ability to create consistency and repeatability in
mass scale across the entire additive manufacturing part production
process. Lockheed Martin is also one of the first customers leveraging
Stratasys’ Antero, using the new thermoplastic for a critical part
situated just outside of Orion’s docking hatch. The complex part
consists of six individual 3D printed components locked together to form
a ring on the craft’s exterior. The part is currently on display in the
Lockheed Martin booth #603 at the 34th Space Symposium in
Colorado Springs, CO April 16-19.

“The demands of space travel require extremely high performance
materials and the most rigorous manufacturing processes in the industry.
Part integrity and repeatability are essential and must pass NASA’s
demanding testing and validation process,” said Scott Sevcik, Vice
President of Manufacturing at Stratasys. “Based on decades of experience
delivering strong and lightweight additive manufacturing solutions for
leaders across the aerospace industry, Stratasys technology is ideally
suited to match the high-reliability manufacturing processes required
for production parts in space exploration.”

“It’s exciting to be a part of the Orion mission and Lockheed Martin’s
efforts to transition additive manufacturing from prototyping to
production,” said Rey Chu, Principal and Co-Owner at PADT. “Additive
manufacturing technology and materials have come a long way to become a
full-fledged end-use manufacturing option.”

PADT is currently joining Stratasys in their booth #537 at this week’s 34th
Space Symposium. For further detail on how Stratasys is transforming
aerospace and space exploration through 3D printing please visit: http://www.stratasys.com/aerospace.

Stratasys is a global leader in applied additive technology
solutions for industries including Aerospace, Automotive, Healthcare,
Consumer Products and Education. For nearly 30 years, a deep and ongoing
focus on customers’ business requirements has fueled purposeful
innovations — 1,200 granted and pending additive technology patents to
date — that create new value across product lifecycle processes, from
design prototypes to manufacturing tools and final production parts. The
Stratasys 3D printing ecosystem of solutions and expertise — advanced
materials; software with voxel level control; precise, repeatable and
reliable FDM and PolyJet 3D printers; application-based expert services;
on-demand parts and industry-defining partnerships — works to ensure
seamless integration into each customer’s evolving workflow. Fulfilling
the real-world potential of additive, Stratasys delivers breakthrough
industry-specific applications that accelerate business processes,
optimize value chains and drive business performance improvements for
thousands of future-ready leaders. Corporate headquarters: Minneapolis,
Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel. Online at: www.stratasys.com,
http://blog.stratasys.com and
LinkedIn.

Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies (PADT) is an engineering
product and services company that focuses on helping customers who
develop physical products by providing Numerical Simulation, Product
Development, and 3D printing solutions. PADT’s worldwide reputation for
technical excellence and experienced staff is based on its proven record
of building long-term win-win partnerships with vendors and customers.
Since its establishment in 1994, companies have relied on PADT because
“We Make Innovation Work”. With over 80 employees, PADT services
customers from its headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, and from offices in
Torrance, California, Littleton, Colorado, Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Austin, Texas, and Murray, Utah. More information on PADT can be found
at www.padtinc.com.

Lockheed Martin, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000
people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design,
development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced
technology systems, products and services.

Stratasys is a registered trademark and Antero and the Stratasys signet
are trademarks of Stratasys Ltd and or its subsidiaries or affiliates.
ULTEM is a registered trademark of SABIC or its subsidiaries or
affiliates.

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