Space Tech Reaches New Level: India Gets First 3D Printer For Metal Parts 

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Moscow – Rosatom has  supplied the RusBeam 2800 industrial 3D printer, which will help drastically shorten lead times for large aerospace components while ensuring material integrity for extreme space conditions, to India.

The equipment is based on Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing technology (EBAM), and it has been successfully launched and commissioned.

The machine will be used to manufacture metal parts for India’s aerospace industry.

EBAM technology is a high-performance metal 3D printing method in which a powerful electron beam, operating inside a vacuum chamber, melts metal wire layer by layer to form large-scale parts.

Thanks to the vacuum environment, the technology is ideally suited for processing reactive and refractory alloys, making it indispensable in the aerospace industry, shipbuilding, and the production of components for nuclear energy.

“Rosatom is making a pivotal contribution to the strategic technological partnership between Russia and India,” stated Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev.

“Following the December 2025 summit of our leaders, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi, their joint statement underscored the prospects of cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy and space, including plans to deepen cooperation on non-energy nuclear applications and new non-nuclear products.

“We won this tender offering not only cutting-edge Russian hardware but also our technological expertise, materials, and service, all tailored to the customer’s requirements.

“We are already in discussions with our Indian partners regarding further supplies, joint R&D in additive technologies, as well as potential localisation of equipment manufacturing in India.”  

The RusBeam 2800 is India’s largest vacuum electron-beam 3D printer. Custom-built for the Indian client with Rosatom’s software, it can produce parts up to 2.8 metres tall and weighing four tonnes.

Print speed reaches 50 mm/s – a 50 kg part takes just five hours.

The printer works with titanium, nickel, cobalt-chrome alloys, and superalloys.

For the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), this means drastically shorter lead times for large aerospace components while ensuring material integrity for extreme space conditions, supporting deep-space missions like Gaganyaan, Bharatiya Antariksh Space Station, and Chandrayaan.

Additive manufacturing produces parts impossible to make with traditional methods. It reduces weight, cuts production cycles from months to days, and eliminates tooling, casting, or milling.

At end-of-life, costs drop up to 90% due to minimal waste – materials are recycled with near-zero loss.

Complex parts that once required welding multiple elements are now grown as single pieces, with metal utilisation approaching 90%.

Although the printer itself is installed in India, its appearance has direct implications for the world and for South Africa in particular.

For the global aerospace industry, this case demonstrates that Russian EBAM technologies have confirmed industrial maturity and are ready for export, creating an alternative to traditional equipment suppliers.

For South Africa, which has its own space programme through the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and ambitions to develop satellite systems, this is a signal that advanced additive solutions are becoming accessible.

The successful operation of the RusBeam 2800 in India lowers the entry barrier for other countries with emerging aerospace industries.

Moreover, Rosatom’s statement explicitly mentions the possibility of localising equipment manufacturing in other countries.

South Africa, which has a developed metallurgical base and a need for independent production of rocket and satellite components, can use the Indian experience as a roadmap.

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