This Rocket Engine Chamber Was 3D-Printed as One Piece

LEAP Space has revealed Serrano, a new rocket engine designed for the company’s upcoming Bighorn launch vehicle. One of the most important features is how the engine is manufactured. The Serrano thrust chamber is produced as a single part using large-scale Direct Metal Laser Sintering, or DMLS, instead of manufacturing and assembling many separate components. That can eliminate welds, flanges and separate cooling-channel assemblies while reducing the number of manufacturing operations required to build the engine. For rocket engineers, additive manufacturing also provides much more freedom when designing internal geometry. Complex cooling channels, propellant passages and combustion-chamber structures can be integrated directly into the printed component — shapes that would be extremely difficult to manufacture using conventional machining. Serrano is based on technology developed for LEAP’s earlier Anaheim engine and is part of the company’s Cayenne propulsion architecture. The system uses liquid oxygen and methane, while additive manufacturing is intended to make development cycles faster by allowing engineers to modify a digital design and quickly manufacture the next physical version. The engine will eventually power Bighorn, LEAP’s larger rapid-response launch and logistics vehicle. According to LEAP, Bighorn is designed with around 90% fewer parts than conventional launch vehicles, with the goal of simplifying production and enabling much higher manufacturing rates. The company is now expanding its manufacturing infrastructure in Colorado. In September 2026, LEAP announced a new 75,600-square-foot facility that will bring engineering, manufacturing and vehicle integration under one roof. Initial production is expected to begin at six Bighorn vehicles per year, with capacity eventually scaling much higher. But Serrano still has to prove itself. The printed engine hardware now needs to go through integration and testing, followed by full-vehicle hot-fire testing for Bighorn. Those tests will determine whether the 3D-printed design can deliver the required thrust, thermal durability, efficiency and repeatable manufacturing quality. LEAP currently plans Bighorn development and production testing through 2027, with full operations targeted for 2028. If the approach works, 3D printing may become more than just a way to manufacture unusual rocket parts. It could become the foundation for building entire launch vehicles faster and with dramatically fewer components. Could 3D printing finally make rockets easier to mass-produce? Subscribe to Xenon Lab News for more space technology, engineering and future transportation. #LEAPSpace #Serrano #Bighorn #3DPrinting #RocketEngine #AdditiveManufacturing #DMLS #Methalox #RocketTechnology #SpaceTech #Aerospace #SpaceLaunch #FutureRockets #SmallSat #Engineering #TechNews #XenonLabNews