IMPERIAL is an ESA’s project leaded by OHB System AG. The purpose of IMPERIAL is to develop a 3D printed able to print large engineering polymer parts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). This project is based on a consortium between the European Space Agency (ESA), German companies with OHB System AG (OHB) and Azimut Space (Sonaca Space Gmbh), Portuguese 3D printing company BeeVeryCreative, and Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland.

 

IMPERIAL is the successor of MELT (for Manufacturing of Experimental Layer Technology) project which already flown onboard ISS. MELT consisted to develop a 3D printer fully functional under microgravity and able to print engineering grade thermoplastics. The Melt printed became in 2018 the first European 3D printer able to work in space. The succeed of this project conducted to the improvement of this printed with IMPERIAL project. The new objective is to print long part, and in theory, infinite part, with engineering thermoplastics (PEEK, PEI). In the end, IMPERIAL’s printer will make life easier for astronauts. In fact, large printed part will make easier the ISS’s maintenance, but it will also revolutionize human space flight.

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