Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Mechanics have carried out a metal 3D printing experiment in space using a retrievable scientific payload.
The test flew aboard the Lihong-1 Y1 suborbital vehicle, a recoverable spacecraft developed by CAS Space, which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on January 12 on its first test flight. After crossing the Karman line and reaching an altitude of about 120 km, the payload ran an automated metal fabrication process in microgravity before returning to Earth by parachute.
What the flight establishes is that the system can operate autonomously in microgravity, survive launch and reentry, and return usable process data. What it does not establish is an in-orbit manufacturing capability. The mission lasted only long enough to provide minutes of microgravity and did not involve integration with any orbital platform, where power supply, thermal control, vibration, and duty-cycle constraints are fundamentally different.
According to the academy, the test targeted microgravity-specific issues, including material transport and forming, closed-loop control, and coordination with the vehicle’s flight profile. Researchers then analyzed data on melt pool behavior, solidification, and the dimensional and mechanical properties of the printed parts.
This Chinese test is at a less advanced stage than metal 3D printing already carried out aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) deployed a metal 3D printer on the ISS, developed by Airbus and its partners, which produced multiple samples in sustained microgravity. Those parts have since been returned to Earth for mechanical and microstructural testing against ground-made equivalents.
By contrast, the Chinese experiment did not attempt long-duration operation, crew interaction, or continuous use, nor did it test what happens when such a system is embedded in the daily constraints of a space station. It also leaves open questions about throughput, repeatability over extended runs, and the practicalities of treating metal 3D printing as part of an orbital logistics chain rather than as a short experiment.
Alongside the printing system, the payload also carried rose seeds for a separate agricultural experiment. The Lihong-1 Y1 vehicle is intended to be reusable, and its deputy chief designer, Wang Yingcheng, said further tests are under way to add life-support and escape systems, positioning it as a suborbital research platform rather than an orbital manufacturing system.
Back on Earth, several groups are exploring several very different approaches to metal manufacturing for space. For example, researchers at Leibniz University Hannover and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg have demonstrated laser metal deposition under simulated microgravity using the Einstein Elevator drop tower.Â
The experiments showed that metal powders could be delivered and melted in short microgravity windows, but the system remains a ground-based test setup rather than a space-qualified manufacturing system.
Similar work has also been carried out in parabolic flight. Researchers at the Researchers at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and TU Clausthal tested a powder-based metal 3D printing process aboard aircraft that provide about 20 seconds of so-called zero gravity per maneuver.Â
In those flights, only a single layer can be deposited during each zero-gravity window, with parts built up over many repeated passes, again limiting the work to short-duration experiments rather than a continuous manufacturing process.
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Featured image shows researchers from CAS at a ceremony marking the Lihong-1 Y1 suborbital microgravity experiment. Photo via CAS Space.
The test flew aboard the Lihong-1 Y1 suborbital vehicle, a recoverable spacecraft developed by CAS Space, which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on January 12 on its first test flight. After crossing the Karman line and reaching an altitude of about 120 km, the payload ran an automated metal fabrication process in microgravity before returning to Earth by parachute.
What the flight establishes is that the system can operate autonomously in microgravity, survive launch and reentry, and return usable process data. What it does not establish is an in-orbit manufacturing capability. The mission lasted only long enough to provide minutes of microgravity and did not involve integration with any orbital platform, where power supply, thermal control, vibration, and duty-cycle constraints are fundamentally different.
According to the academy, the test targeted microgravity-specific issues, including material transport and forming, closed-loop control, and coordination with the vehicle’s flight profile. Researchers then analyzed data on melt pool behavior, solidification, and the dimensional and mechanical properties of the printed parts.
This Chinese test is at a less advanced stage than metal 3D printing already carried out aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) deployed a metal 3D printer on the ISS, developed by Airbus and its partners, which produced multiple samples in sustained microgravity. Those parts have since been returned to Earth for mechanical and microstructural testing against ground-made equivalents.
By contrast, the Chinese experiment did not attempt long-duration operation, crew interaction, or continuous use, nor did it test what happens when such a system is embedded in the daily constraints of a space station. It also leaves open questions about throughput, repeatability over extended runs, and the practicalities of treating metal 3D printing as part of an orbital logistics chain rather than as a short experiment.
Alongside the printing system, the payload also carried rose seeds for a separate agricultural experiment. The Lihong-1 Y1 vehicle is intended to be reusable, and its deputy chief designer, Wang Yingcheng, said further tests are under way to add life-support and escape systems, positioning it as a suborbital research platform rather than an orbital manufacturing system.
Back on Earth, several groups are exploring several very different approaches to metal manufacturing for space. For example, researchers at Leibniz University Hannover and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg have demonstrated laser metal deposition under simulated microgravity using the Einstein Elevator drop tower.Â
The experiments showed that metal powders could be delivered and melted in short microgravity windows, but the system remains a ground-based test setup rather than a space-qualified manufacturing system.
Similar work has also been carried out in parabolic flight. Researchers at the Researchers at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and TU Clausthal tested a powder-based metal 3D printing process aboard aircraft that provide about 20 seconds of so-called zero gravity per maneuver.Â
In those flights, only a single layer can be deposited during each zero-gravity window, with parts built up over many repeated passes, again limiting the work to short-duration experiments rather than a continuous manufacturing process.
The 3D Printing Industry Awards are back. Make your nominations now.
Do you operate a 3D printing start-up? Reach readers, potential investors, and customers with the 3D Printing Industry Start-up of Year competition.Â
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.
While you’re here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays.
Featured image shows researchers from CAS at a ceremony marking the Lihong-1 Y1 suborbital microgravity experiment. Photo via CAS Space.