Aerospace AM market worth $1.6 billion in 2023, driven by end-users
The sector is maturing rapidly as vertical AM adopters in aviation, space and UAVs increasingly benefit from more efficient and valuable 3D printed parts
VoxelMatters’ newest market study on the Aerospace Additive Manufacturing (AM) market, for the first time, presents a complete analysis of this vertical segment, including bottom-up demand and revenue data on every key metric. The data is presented both in terms of material segments (metals, polymers/composites and technical ceramics) and in terms of AM market segments (hardware, materials, service parts and end-user parts).
Each of these is further split into subcategories that include all major technologies, specific alloys and polymers, types of parts and end-user subsegments (aviation, space and UAVs). Considering all these elements, the aerospace AM market was worth $1.58 billion in 2023 (and it is forecasted to reach $20.5 billion by 2033 growing at 29.2% CAGR for the 10-year forecast period), driven primarily by metal parts (both outsourced to AM services and internally manufactured by OEMs and tier 1/tier 2 suppliers).
This is the first part of a 2-part article. In the second part, we will analyze the projected opportunity for the Aerospace AM market with 10-year forecasts.
Aviation driving the market
Total revenue across polymer, metal, and technical ceramic AM categories in the aerospace industry was driven by strong growth across civil aviation, military aviation, and space sub-verticals. Metal AM dominated the market, contributing 62% of the total, followed by polymer AM with 36.9%, while ceramic AM remained a smaller portion at 1.1%. AM in aviation (both civil and defense) generates more revenues as it is a much larger overall segment than space and UAVs, however, AM penetration is the highest in civil space applications.
Civil aviation remained the largest sub-vertical contributor, making up 22.9% of the overall AM market, with metal AM leading at 13.2% of this segment, followed by polymer AM at 9.5%. Military aviation accounted for 20.3% of the total AM market, heavily relying on metal AM for 13.4%. Civil and military space generated 19.5% and 13.2% of the Aerospace AM market, respectively, with metal AM playing the dominant role. Meanwhile, UAVs contributed 24% of the total market, with polymer and metal AM driving growth across the sub-verticals.
In metal AM specifically, civil space was a key area, contributing 68.4% of the subvertical’s revenue, or $211 million. Military aviation followed closely, also bringing in around $211 million, with metal accounting for 65.9% of its total revenue. Metal parts-related revenues contributed 57.6% of the Civil aviation sub-vertical’s total, or $208 million.
Polymer AM had a strong presence in civil UAVs, where it made up 56.5% of the sub-vertical’s revenue, contributing $103 million. In civil aviation, although polymer AM represented a smaller share at 41.5% of the sub-vertical’s total, it generated a higher revenue of $150 million due to civil aviation’s larger overall market size. Though technical ceramic AM remains a niche segment, it experienced notable growth in 2023, driven by Civil Space applications, which accounted for 28.6% of the total ceramic revenues, contributing $5 million. Civil aviation and military aviation together made up 32.7% of ceramic revenues, each contributing $3 million.
Metal is king of the air
In 2023, metal AM (hardware, materials, service parts and end-user parts) accounted for the largest share of the overall Aerospace AM market, contributing 62% and generating $978 million in 2023, a +29.1% increase from 2022. Polymer AM followed, representing 36.9% of the total and growing by +17.6% to $582 million. Although technical ceramic AM was the smallest category, it experienced significant growth, making up 1.1% of the market with revenues increasing by +42.1% to $17 million.
Getting more into each specific Aerospace AM market segment, the value generated by adopters using metal AM internally dominated the metal AM segment, contributing 50.3% to the category’s total. Although this value is based on an estimate (as no sale occurs when parts are produced internally), the overall value generated by metal AM adopters in aerospace grew by +32.1%, reaching $492 million and making up 31.2% of the total market. Hardware followed, representing 20.1% of Metal AM’s revenue and growing by +29% to $196 million in 2023. This accounted for 12.4% of the overall market. Services, meanwhile, made up 21.9% of the total metal revenue and 13.5% of the overall total, increasing by +20.7% to $214 million. Lastly, materials, while the smallest in the metal category, still saw significant growth, contributing 7.8% of the metal total and 4.8% of the overall market, with revenues increasing by +35.9%.
A maturing, adopter-driven AM market
In terms of overall market segments, in 2023 the aerospace AM market was driven largely by strong growth in the adopters subsegment, which made up 45.5% of the total revenue, rising to $718 million. Hardware contributed 23.5% of the total market, with revenues increasing by +25.6% to $370 million. Meanwhile, services accounted for 22.5% of the market, generating $355 million after growing by +20.6%. Lastly, materials, while the smallest subsegment, contributed 8.5% of the market with revenues growing by +26% to $134 million.
Metal AM parts end-users led the way, accounting for 68.5% of the Adopters subsegment and growing by +32.1% to $492 million. This represented 31.2% of the total market. Polymer contributed 31% to the subsegment and grew by +14.6% to $223 million, or 14.1% of the total market.
Metal hardware accounted for the largest portion of the Hardware subsegment, contributing 53.1% to the total hardware revenue. Growing by +29% YoY, metal hardware reached $196 million, or 12.4% of the total market. Within the Material subsegment, metal materials made up the largest portion, accounting for 56.7% of materials revenue and growing by +35.9% to $76 million. This represented 4.8% of the total market. In the services subsegment, metal AM services dominated, accounting for 60.2% of total services revenue. Metal services grew by +20.7% to $214 million in 2023, making up 13.5% of the total market.
In conclusion, civil aviation and military aviation dominate both polymer and metal AM, with strong growth across all sub-verticals, particularly in civil aviation for metal AM. Civil UAVs showed the strongest YoY growth in both polymer and metal AM, signaling increased adoption in unmanned aircraft manufacturing. Technical ceramic AM remains a niche but rapidly expanding category, with civil space leading its growth. Military UAVs and military space, though smaller, are crucial areas of growth for both metal and ceramic AM applications. Metal AM continues to hold the largest share overall, driven by civil and military aviation applications.
