Boeing will increase use of 3D printing to speed up manufacturing of WGS armed service satellite – SpaceNews
Boeing is 3D printing a lot more than a thousand areas for WGS-11+, a new communications satellite it is developing for the U.S. Place Power
WASHINGTON — Producing components with 3D printing is one particular way Boeing is shortening the manufacturing cycle of the U.S. military’s Wideband International Satcom (WGS) communications satellite, the firm stated March 1 in a news release.
Boeing is developing WGS-11+, the 11th satellite of the WGS constellation, at its manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California. The Place Force awarded the business a $605 million contract in Oct 2019. Boeing in 2020 introduced the delivery is scheduled for 2024.
Earning a WGS satellite in five years is a shorter timeline compared to the regular seven-to-10-calendar year production agenda for huge and advanced military spacecraft.
“We’re printing a lot more than a thousand components for WGS-11+, offering us the ability to introduce customization in a way that enhances technique functionality, without having requiring considerable integration occasions or tailored tooling,” claimed Troy Dawson, Boeing Federal government Satellite Techniques vice president.
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has not nevertheless changed regular satellite production procedures but it is getting ground. Boeing for decades has 3D printed elements for little satellites — these as individuals manufactured by its subsidiary Millennium House — but is now making use of this technological know-how to significant-ticket satellites like WGS.
Significant geostationary satellites have any place from tens of thousands to hundreds of hundreds of elements, so printing a thousand elements is a compact percentage. However, that is still a 10-fold enhance in the total of steel 3D-printed areas compared to the most recent spacecraft Boeing made just before WGS-11, in accordance to the company.
The areas that are becoming 3D printed for WGS incorporate constructions and mechanisms, thermal management subsystems, dynamic isolation systems and passive microwave units. Supplies utilized include aluminum alloy, titanium alloy and high-general performance polymer. Boeing mentioned it is also qualifying other resources.
WGS-11+ uses Boeing’s business 702X digital satellite payload that generates hundreds of electronically-steered beams simultaneously. In accordance to the business, this presents consumers with extra than two times the throughput potential as opposed to existing satellites in the WGS fleet.
The WGS constellation supplies broadband communications to the United States navy and various global associates that contain Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway. The U.S. also has a independent bilateral agreement with Australia. Two new associate nations are in discussions to be a part of the coalition but their identities have not but been disclosed.
Boeing is 3D printing a lot more than a thousand areas for WGS-11+, a new communications satellite it is developing for the U.S. Place Power
WASHINGTON — Producing components with 3D printing is one particular way Boeing is shortening the manufacturing cycle of the U.S. military’s Wideband International Satcom (WGS) communications satellite, the firm stated March 1 in a news release.
Boeing is developing WGS-11+, the 11th satellite of the WGS constellation, at its manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California. The Place Force awarded the business a $605 million contract in Oct 2019. Boeing in 2020 introduced the delivery is scheduled for 2024.
Earning a WGS satellite in five years is a shorter timeline compared to the regular seven-to-10-calendar year production agenda for huge and advanced military spacecraft.
“We’re printing a lot more than a thousand components for WGS-11+, offering us the ability to introduce customization in a way that enhances technique functionality, without having requiring considerable integration occasions or tailored tooling,” claimed Troy Dawson, Boeing Federal government Satellite Techniques vice president.
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has not nevertheless changed regular satellite production procedures but it is getting ground. Boeing for decades has 3D printed elements for little satellites — these as individuals manufactured by its subsidiary Millennium House — but is now making use of this technological know-how to significant-ticket satellites like WGS.
Significant geostationary satellites have any place from tens of thousands to hundreds of hundreds of elements, so printing a thousand elements is a compact percentage. However, that is still a 10-fold enhance in the total of steel 3D-printed areas compared to the most recent spacecraft Boeing made just before WGS-11, in accordance to the company.
The areas that are becoming 3D printed for WGS incorporate constructions and mechanisms, thermal management subsystems, dynamic isolation systems and passive microwave units. Supplies utilized include aluminum alloy, titanium alloy and high-general performance polymer. Boeing mentioned it is also qualifying other resources.
WGS-11+ uses Boeing’s business 702X digital satellite payload that generates hundreds of electronically-steered beams simultaneously. In accordance to the business, this presents consumers with extra than two times the throughput potential as opposed to existing satellites in the WGS fleet.
The WGS constellation supplies broadband communications to the United States navy and various global associates that contain Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway. The U.S. also has a independent bilateral agreement with Australia. Two new associate nations are in discussions to be a part of the coalition but their identities have not but been disclosed.
