Building a rocket? Press 'P' for print... [3D Printing Space Exploration 3D]

3D printing (Additive manufacturing) is emerging as a popular technology in tie space industry where it increases the potential to reduce spacecraft mass and cut launch costs. But will it ever be possible to print the rockets themselves. The company responsible for the early adoption of this technology is aerospace giant Lockheed Martin which, far from being in it for the novelty, is "streamlining satellite production with 3D titanium printing to lower cycle times and reduce cost". The company currently uses 3D printers in two main ways: for prototyping parts,using polymers, and for printing "flightready parts" in titanium, aluminium and Inconel.