While some of us have always been fascinated by space exploration, the interest seems to have been reignited the last few weeks with the first photos from the James Webb telescope. Kicking off with Ursa Major’s “Rocket in a box” on July 13 and continuing last week with announcement of the first commercial mission to Mars, development of a new type of space habitat, and collaboration on a satellite with 3D printed metal patch antennas, the 3D printing community is innovating and reaching for the stars.
- Biofabricated Implants for Ophthalmology to be Developed by Carl Zeiss Meditec & Precise Bio: Carl Zeiss Meditec and Precise Bio announced the companies have entered into a partnership to develop and commercialize biofabricated corneal tissue for transplants in patients that require endothelial keratoplasty and natural lenticule transplants for treating keratoconus and vision correction. READ MORE
- First Commercial Mission to Mars Announced by Impulse Space and Relativity Space: Impulse Space announced a groundbreaking partnership and launch mission with Relativity Space to deliver the first commercial payload to Mars. With an anticipated launch window starting in 2024, the historic partnership rapidly advances the companies’ shared goal of a multiplanetary existence for humanity. READ MORE
- Strengthened 3D Printing Workflow to Boost Productivity with New MakerBot CloudPrint™ 2.0: MakerBot announced an upgrade to its print preparation and management solution, MakerBot CloudPrint™. MakerBot CloudPrint now includes an enhanced interface for a strengthened 3D printing workflow with smoother user experience and several new and upgraded features that enable users to go from CAD file to 3D-printed part faster than before and boost productivity. READ MORE
- 3D Printed Space Habitat Lands at Institut auf dem Rosenberg: Institut auf dem Rosenberg and SAGA Space Architects unveiled the world’s tallest 3D printed space habitat, an extraterrestrial learning environment. The Rosenberg Space Habitat (RSH), which will serve as an experimental lab for students to explore and actively shape the future of humanity on our planet and beyond. Co-created by Rosenberg students and SAGA Space Architects with sustainable materials to intentionally fit inside SpaceX’s Starship rocket, the structure is the world’s tallest 3D-printed polymer structure measuring 23-feet high. READ MORE
- Industrial 3D Printing Focused Fund Closes at EUR 100 Million Catch the discussion on AM News Live on July 25: AM Ventures announced final closing of its venture capital fund focused on industrial 3D printing. The oversubscribed fund closes at EUR 100M hard cap. The VC firm will use the funds to expand its strong portfolio of 17 companies and to further boost the industrial 3D printing industry. READ MORE
- Nexus Spine Announces 3D Printed Cervical Interbody Fusion Implants: Nexus Spine announced the beta launch of Stable-C™, 3D printed cervical interbody fusion implants featuring integrated anchoring blades. The limited release adds to the company’s growing line of Tranquil™ interbody offerings, which currently includes ALIF, PLIF, TLIF, Steerable TLIF, DLIF, and standard cervical configurations. Tranquil™ is made of titanium that is engineered using proprietary compliant mechanism principles to match the stiffness of spinal trabecular bone to encourage rapid stability while minimizing the potential for subsidence. READ MORE
- Satellite with 3D Printed Metal Patch Antennas: Terran Orbital Corporation has commissioned Fleet Space CENTAURI-5 payload; a satellite with 3D printed all metal patch antennas. The payload provides Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity to ground terminals and is an improved version of the payloads flown on CENTAURI-3 and CENTAURI-4.READ MORE
- Dental 3D Printing with New Material SprintRay Crown™: SprintRay announced SprintRay Crown™, a 3D printing resin poised to help improve the quality of restorative care in digital dentistry. READ MORE
- Digital Dentistry Simplified with DentalCAD 3.1 Rijeka Software: exocad, an Align Technology, Inc. company announced the release of DentalCAD 3.1 Rijeka, the next generation of CAD software for labs and full-service clinics. With more than 45 new and over 85 enhanced features, the new release marks another milestone in exocad’s continuous optimization of workflows for increased productivity in digital dentistry. READ MORE
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2021 Additive Manufacturing Technology Roundup 
First Commercial Mission to Mars Announced by Impulse Space and Relativity Space 
2021 Technology Roundup: Hardware 