If you’re following 3D printing news at all, you probably know that NASA has been working towards building an entirely 3D printed rocket, and they’re getting closer, one part at a time. A team of Nasa engineers has inched closer to building a completely 3D printed, high-performance rocket engine by manufacturing complex engine parts.

3D printing is seen as a key technology in improving the design of spacecraft and making space exploration more affordable. On the other hand, 3D printed parts are a lot cheaper and work just as well when it comes to space transportation.

After creating the printed parts, NASA started testing them. All of the parts performed very well on the tests and by the scientists’ calculations, the engine will produce about 90,000 RPMs which equals about 20,000 pounds of thrust.

NASA says that 75% of the rocket engine parts tested were built using 3D printing techniques. Seven tests were performed using the rocket engine and some of the tests lasted as long as ten seconds. During the tests, the 3D printed demonstrator engine experienced all the extreme environments inside a flight rocket engine where fuel is burned at greater than 3,315 degrees Celsius to produce thrust.

You can watch the video here:

Over the last three years, the Marshall team has been working with various vendors to make 3D printed parts, such as turbo pumps and injectors, and test them individually.

If everything goes well after testing all the components, there is a chance that NASA will be sending this 3D printed rocket into space, to test if it can ‘survive’ there. If the mission is a success, the space agency will go on manufacturing 3D printed equipment for their spaceships.