(Karlsruhe, Germany, September 29th 2026)Horizon Microtechnologies is speeding up industrialisation of its metallised polymer micro-additive production platform through IP-MASS, a two-year scale-up job supported by EUR500,000 and strengthened by choice for ESA Phi-Lab Austria.
The program is broadening Horizon’s printing, finishing and process-verification abilities for protecting real estates and other passive RF hardware, targeting approximately 50,000 precision-coated satellite elements and a repeatable production structure fit to constellation-class need instead of one-off model production.
Horizon integrates accuracy polymer 3D printing with conformal metallisation and protective coverings. Polymer offers the accuracy bulk geometry, while metal is used just to the density needed. Changing even light-weight metals such as aluminium with metallised polymer can decrease weight by 40%, while 3D printing can provide more size, weight and style benefits together with appealing economics compared to traditionally machined metal parts.
ESA Phi-Lab Austria’s “Industrialization by Design” focus supports upstream area innovations with industrial capacity, showing the relocation towards scalable, dependable and cost-efficient commercial items.
Significantly, IP-MASS is not restricted to protecting real estates. Horizon is likewise looking for spacecraft and space-related terrestrial applications where polymer 3D printing and metallisation might attend to item requirements, making restraints or future volume need.
“Horizon has actually shown that metallised polymer micro-AM can provide even more than light-weight models,” stated Andreas Frölich, CEO of Horizon Microtechnologies. “The next obstacle is commercial: accomplishing the costs, lead times, repeatability and throughput required when an element is needed not when or 10 times, however thousands or 10s of countless times.”
Frölich includes, “Shielding real estates offer us a strong very first industrialisation case, however they are not the limitation. We likewise wish to resolve parts where light-weight printed geometry and practical metal surface areas might develop a significant technical or making benefit.”
The relocation constructs on Horizon’s space-readiness work, which subjected representative metallised polymer demonstrators to recognized LEO tests consisting of outgassing, temperature level shock, radiation, mechanical shock, product tiredness and atomic-oxygen direct exposure.
For high-volume satellite architectures such as phased-array payloads, parts might be utilized numerous times per spacecraft and throughout numerous satellites, turning component-level mass and expense savings into considerable programme-level gains.
IP-MASS likewise offers scope to work together on applications with awaited need of 100 systems annually or more. Partners do not require a completely established part: early-stage ideas are welcome while design-for-manufacturability choices can still be made.
“We do not wish to presume that we currently understand every application where this innovation can develop worth,” Frölich states. “The organisations creating next-generation spacecraft understand where their item and production restrictions are. We desire them to bring those difficulties to us so we can check out whether the innovation matters and, where it is, possibly form the production path together.”
Horizon is moving beyond recognition towards a commercial production platform for next-generation satellite hardware, while welcoming the area neighborhood to assist determine which applications it ought to industrialise next.
Horizon belongs to the Green Space Centeran effort supported by the State of Baden-Württemberg and based at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Reutlingen (IHK Reutlingenthat promotes development in water management, New Space, and smart systems.
“We assist SMEs in Baden-Württemberg internationalize space-related organization designs and items and support their entry into global markets,” stated Marcin Bielecki, Head of Technology at the Green Space.
The effort intends to place Baden-Württemberg as a sustainability-driven center for area innovation by cultivating cross-sector partnership and using area innovations to produce environmental effect.
Baden-Württemberg hosts a vibrant and quickly growing New Space community, consisting of leading European business such as ATMOS Space CargoHyImpulseConstellR and CELERES while supporting emerging innovators such as InSpacePropulsion Technologies (ISPTech) and Yugen Space
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