---
title: "ARIS completes PEGASUS Gen1 rotating detonation engine with AM components"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/aris-completes-pegasus-gen1-rotating-detonation-engine-with-copper-nickel-silicon-am-components/
date: 2026-03-28
modified: 2026-03-28
lang: en
author: "Davide Sher"
description: "ARIS (Academic Space Initiative Switzerland), a student rocketry organization previously covered by VoxelMatters for its HEPHAESTUS bi-liquid propulsion work, completed development of its first rotating detonation engine, designated PEGASUS Gen1,..."
categories:
  - "Aerospace AM"
  - "AM for Space"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444669731-640x427.jpg
word_count: 234
---

# ARIS completes PEGASUS Gen1 rotating detonation engine with AM components

ARIS (Academic Space Initiative Switzerland), [a student rocketry organization previously covered by VoxelMatters for its HEPHAESTUS bi-liquid propulsion work](https://www.voxelmatters.com/aris-advances-student-built-rocket-engines-with-irpds-additive-manufacturing-support/), completed development of its first rotating detonation engine, designated PEGASUS Gen1, with cold flow testing underway and a first firing scheduled to follow.

The team built two engine variants: a Gen1-C, featuring active water cooling, and a Gen1-U, an uncooled version. Both incorporated interchangeable cores. The engines were designed to generate approximately 1 kilonewton (kN) of thrust, with detonation waves occurring at up to 20,000 cycles per second.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444667565.jpg)

[![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444670722-640x427.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444670722.jpg)

[![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444662394-640x427.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444662394.jpg)

[![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444665363-640x427.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444665363.jpg)

[![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444672731-640x427.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ARIS-Gen11774444672731.jpg)

The actively cooled Gen1-C engine was 3D printed in a copper-nickel-silicon alloy through a sponsorship with Feramic AG, a material choice suited to the thermal demands of active cooling in a detonation-combustion environment. Additional manufacturing support came from LEUKA GmbH, which handled post-processing of the injector, and Schmelzmetall, which supplied the copper powder. Copper blanks were provided by Looser, conventional machining was carried out by PDZ, and eMDe Blechfabrik AG manufactured the engine test stand.

ARIS previously developed the HEPHAESTUS engine series, a bi-liquid propulsion platform using ethanol and liquid oxygen, in collaboration with IRPD AG, which produced Inconel 718 components via SLM. The PEGASUS Gen1 program marks the team's first RDE development cycle, building on propulsion and manufacturing capabilities established through that earlier work.

Cold flow tests were in progress at the time of publication, with a first firing to follow.