Sintavia Awarded DoD Contract to Develop 3D Printed Hypersonic Propulsion Systems

It has long been clear that with additive manufacturing, not even the sky is the limit. And once again that has been proven. Sintavia, a company which claims to be the world’s first all-digital aerospace component manufacturer, has announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Through this, Sintavia will be developing additively manufactured hypersonic propulsion components.

In aerodynamics, the word hypersonic refers to a speed that exceeds five times the speed of sound, starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above, or greater than 3000 mph. Hypersonic propulsion is considered useful in a range of applications, including long-range ballistic flight and air-defense interceptor missiles. Given the current environment, developing this technology has become a major goal of the American defense industry. This is where Sintavia comes in.

Sintavia has been involved in numerous projects dedicated to growing additive manufacturing, including Biden’s Forward AM Initiative

The contract was awarded as part of the DoD’s Growing Additive Manufacturing Maturity for Airbreathing Hypersonics (GAMMA-H) challenge, which seeks to help efforts to expand manufacturing processes to create hypersonic weapons parts. It was first announced in October 2023 with a budget of $106.7M and is a joint effort between the Office of Secretary of Defense ManTech and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. The reason for the focus on additive manufacturing is because traditional manufacturing processes are unable to meet the intricate geometric specifications required for advanced hypersonics. This, of course, an area where additive manufacturing thrives.