Solideon Aims to Decentralize Rocket Manufacturing with 3D Printing

Nearly five years after COVID-19 halted the world, global supply chains are still not fully recovered. Industries like space travel have been particularly hard-hit, facing challenges in sourcing rocket spare parts that are often not readily available.

In response to these challenges, many sectors have begun to seriously consider 3D printing as a viable solution. While additive manufacturing may not match traditional methods in terms of scalability, it offers unique opportunities for creating specialized components and decentralizing manufacturing, which is largely concentrated in a few regions worldwide.

Oluseun Taiwo, co-founder and CEO of Solideon, has witnessed firsthand how global events can disrupt the space industry. In May 2020, while working as an engine engineer at Virgin Orbit, he saw the company fail to launch its LauncherOne rocket. Virgin Orbit ceased operations in May 2023.

“I realized that if we had a localized method of production and didn’t have to rely on global supply chains during the pandemic, things might have gone differently,” Taiwo told TechCrunch. “The challenge was to build about 30 rockets a year to make the business model work. In reality, we were launching maybe three a year, which was never enough.”

After leaving Virgin Orbit in 2021, Taiwo joined 3D Systems, a staunch advocate of 3D printing, before founding Solideon in Techstars the following year. Based in the Bay Area, the rocket printing service has raised $6.5 million to date, marking just the beginning of its celestial ambitions. Solideon presented today on stage at Startup Battlefield 20 during TechCrunch Disrupt 2024.

“We’re actually creating robots for deployable microfactories that help print and assemble large aerospace structures and products,” said Taiwo.

“The reason this is important is that it allows you to decentralize production and essentially get to the point of creating an entire product without any human intervention in the cycle. Our long-term goal is to do this at any point in the solar system.”

While manufacturing in space is still a distant goal, the company is focused on addressing more pressing issues, targeting defense contracts. Taiwo notes that the U.S. Department of Defense is currently auditing its own supply chain, anticipating further disruptions—whether due to natural disasters or global conflicts.

“The Navy has a problem with very expensive assets,” he says. “In the short term, we need to help them solve that. In the mid-term, we’re focusing more on smaller, autonomous, additive systems. This is where we see the greatest potential for such technologies. Creating a microfactory that is highly mobile and can operate alongside a changing conflict landscape is what we aim to achieve.”