---
title: "How Relativity Space’s Horizon and DEEP Manufacturing turned large-scale WAAM expertise into industrial services"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/how-relativity-spaces-horizon-and-deep-manufacturing-turned-large-scale-waam-expertise-into-industrial-services/
date: 2026-04-28
modified: 2026-04-29
lang: en
author: "Davide Sher"
description: "There is a particular credibility that comes from having already done something no one else has. Relativity Space built the largest 3D printed object ever to fly—its Terran 1 rocket—by..."
categories:
  - "3D Printer Hardware"
  - "3D Printing Processes"
  - "Additive Manufacturing"
  - "LFAM"
  - "Metal Additive Manufacturing"
  - "Wire-based metal AM"
tags:
  - "Featured"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Relativity-Stargate-4th-Generation-640x427.jpg
word_count: 1636
---

# How Relativity Space’s Horizon and DEEP Manufacturing turned large-scale WAAM expertise into industrial services

There is a particular credibility that comes from having already done something no one else has. Relativity Space [built the largest 3D printed object ever to fly—its Terran 1 rocket—by developing large-scale wire arc and directed energy deposition capabilities from scratch at its Long Beach facility](https://www.voxelmatters.com/relativity-is-launching-the-first-fully-3d-printed-rocket-now/). DEEP Manufacturing, the UK-based division of the ocean technology company DEEP, [built the infrastructure to produce pressure vessels and hull structures rated for human occupancy in subsea environments](https://www.voxelmatters.com/deep-emerges-from-stealth-with-waam-3d-printed-subsea-habitat/). Both companies spent years solving manufacturing problems at the outer edges of what metal additive manufacturing could do. Now both are making those hard-won capabilities available to paying customers outside their original missions. In doing so, they are demonstrating the possibilities for the entire wire-based metal AM market that already sees dedicated players like [AML3D](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/aml3d/), newer entries like [Caracol](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/caracol-studio/) and the newest entries like [ValCUN](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/valcun/), offering scalable production capabilities.

[Relativity Space](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/relativityspace/) formally established Horizon Manufacturing Technologies as a stand-alone business unit to bring its Stargate robotic deposition platform—originally developed for rocket production—to customers in aerospace, defense, energy, and maritime. DEEP Manufacturing, which received full Approval of Manufacture (AoM) from classification society DNV for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) in late 2025, accelerated the opening of its Houston, Texas facility to May 2026, a full year ahead of its original schedule, as it moves to scale service delivery in the US market.

![Explore the possibilities in wire-based metal AM through Relativity Space and DEEP Manufacturing’s innovative technologies](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/relativity-horizon-scaled.jpg)The Relativity Horizon WAAM production facility.

## Terran 1 on the Horizon

Relativity Space's additive manufacturing program began to build a rocket faster and with fewer parts by printing as much of it as possible. Terran 1 flew in 2023 as the world's most 3D printed rocket, validating the company's [Stargate platform across large-format metal deposition](https://www.voxelmatters.com/relativity-space-shows-off-horizontal-stargate-4th-generation/), in-process inspection, and autonomous robotic control. When Relativity subsequently redirected its launch vehicle development toward the larger Terran R, it recognized that the manufacturing platform itself had value well beyond rocket production.

Horizon now operates out of a 120,000 sq. ft. facility—referred to internally as The Portal—and is led by Quan Lac, who joined Relativity Space as President of Horizon Manufacturing Technologies after eight years building the additive manufacturing business at Siemens Energy. Lac described his move in terms that reflect how the company sees its opportunity: deep sector experience in industrial AM, combined with Relativity's software-driven production architecture, positions Horizon to serve the same heavy-industry customers he spent nearly a decade working with.

The business targets large-scale metal castings in energy, aerospace, and defense sectors where lead times for complex components are measured in months, supply chains are brittle, and casting or forging capacity is geographically concentrated. Horizon's pitch is build-volume flexibility, speed from CAD to component, and full-stack capabilities, including robotics, simulation, inspection, and proprietary multi-material deposition. The company is also recruiting a Head of Business Development with a compensation range of $245,000–$337,000, with a specific mandate to close contracts with aerospace primes, defense programs, and energy operators.

![Explore the possibilities in wire-based metal AM through Relativity Space and DEEP Manufacturing’s innovative technologies](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Two-Axis-Manipulator.jpg)The WAAM system at DEEP Manufacturing.

## DEEP Manufacturing moves to Houston

[DEEP Manufacturing](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/deep-manufacturing/) was built to support the construction of underwater habitats and subsea pressure vessels—applications where structural integrity is not a performance preference but a condition of human survival. [Meeting DNV certification requirements for WAAM-produced pressure vessels](https://www.voxelmatters.com/deep-manufacturing-granted-approval-of-manufacture-from-dnv/) rated for human occupancy demanded process control, materials qualification, and quality management at a level that few additive manufacturers have attempted to meet.

The AoM from DNV—covering pressure vessels, pressure vessels for human occupancy, and hull structures—made DEEP Manufacturing one of a handful of manufacturers globally, and the only one in Europe, to hold that level of WAAM certification. The Houston facility, which will operate four WAAM platforms at launch to produce carbon steel and nickel-based alloy components, including Inconel 625, brings that certified capability directly into the US market's largest cluster of energy, subsea, and industrial engineering customers.

DEEP Manufacturing's single-arm production volume reaches up to 2.8 meters in diameter and 3.2 meters in height, with multi-arm systems extending that further for defense, maritime, and offshore applications. The company reports lead times up to three times faster than for casting or forging large components, and runs its facilities on a 24/7 automated schedule. The Houston opening on May 6 will include a display of the first WAAM pressure vessel certified to DNV standards — a component that encapsulates what the company is offering industrial customers: not a prototype process, but a certified production capability.

"Houston represents a major step in scaling industrial additive manufacturing in the United States," said Peter Richards, Chief Executive Officer of DEEP Manufacturing. "By bringing our WAAM capability closer to customers in energy, defense and maritime sectors, we can dramatically reduce lead times for large, high-integrity components while strengthening supply-chain resilience for critical industries."

## It's metal wire time

Relativity's Stargate platform and DEEP's WAAM systems differ in architecture and origin. What connects them is the commercial logic they have independently arrived at. Both companies made capital-intensive, technically demanding bets on large-format metal additive manufacturing to serve extreme applications. Both are now extending that infrastructure to serve industrial customers who need large, complex metal components but lack the internal capability or supply chain access to get them reliably and quickly through conventional means.

![Explore the possibilities in wire-based metal AM through Relativity Space and DEEP Manufacturing’s innovative technologies](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/aml3d.jpeg)AML3D's Arcemy platform.

The customers they are targeting—offshore operators, defense primes, aerospace manufacturers, and energy companies—are the same customers who have been watching AM mature for years without necessarily committing to it. Certified production, demonstrated at scale, for applications where failure is not acceptable, is the argument both companies are now making in the market.

The commercial moves by Horizon and DEEP Manufacturing demonstrate the viability, versatility and usefulness of wire-based metal AM. Across the sector (not just in wire arc but also in laser-based metal wire-based AM), a growing number of companies have spent the past several years scaling their platforms, building out manufacturing infrastructure, and signing contracts that signal genuine industrial adoption rather than pilot-phase activity. They can be ideal partners for other advanced companies and organizations that are not looking to develop their own technology.

Some of these companies we know particularly well as we've had the opportunity to see their technologies up close on many occasions and speak in depth with the teams behind them.

For example, [AML3D, the Australian developer of the ARCEMY Wire Additive Manufacturing (WAM) platform, closed the first half of its fiscal year 2026 with approximately AU$16.5 million](https://www.voxelmatters.com/aml3d-reports-20-million-in-ytd-orders-as-us-defence-contracts-drive-quarterly-growth/) ($10.4 million) in orders—the bulk of them from US defense and maritime customers. Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries and the largest military shipbuilder in the United States, placed a ~$9.9 million order for four ARCEMY X systems, bringing the total number of those units at the shipyard to six.

![Explore the possibilities in wire-based metal AM through Relativity Space and DEEP Manufacturing’s innovative technologies](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Caracol-CNC-partnership-02.jpg)Caracol's VIPRA.

The US Navy, which issued a Letter of Intent to [AML3D](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/aml3d/) in mid-2025, projected demand for 400 additively manufactured components in 2026, rising to 1,600 by 2030, as part of its Maritime Industrial Base expansion. [AML3D delivered copper-nickel tailpiece components for the Virginia-class nuclear submarine program in under five weeks](https://www.voxelmatters.com/aml3d-secures-1-8-million-contract-to-3d-print-replacement-parts-for-us-navy-submarines/)—work that would have taken 17 months through traditional manufacturing. The company now operates manufacturing facilities in Australia and Ohio and is expanding into European markets through distribution partnerships, with 87% of its first-half revenues generated in the United States.

Among the rising stars, [Caracol](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/caracol-studio/), the Italian large-format AM specialist based in Barlassina, near Milan, has followed a parallel expansion model—but from a different starting point. Founded in 2017 and originally known for its polymer and composite LFAM platforms, [Caracol introduced its Vipra AM metal system at Formnext 2024 following several years of application development](https://www.voxelmatters.com/caracol-launches-vipra-am-integrated-robotic-metal-3d-printing-platform/). The platform covers two configurations: the Vipra XQ, which uses Plasma Arc Deposition for high-precision, high-integrity components in aerospace and energy, and is suited for stainless steels and titanium alloys; and the Vipra XP, which targets productivity and cost efficiency in aluminum and nickel-based materials.

In September 2025, Caracol opened its North American headquarters in Pflugerville, Texas, a 10,000 sq. ft. facility designed for system integration, application development, and customer co-development, with capacity to produce up to 100 Heron and Vipra AM systems per year. One month later, the company closed a $40 million Series B round co-led by Omnes Capital, Move Capital, and CDP Venture Capital, with proceeds earmarked for global expansion across Europe, the US, and Asia Pacific. Caracol has also moved into international distribution partnerships, including an exclusive agreement with RusselSmith in West Africa and a collaboration with CNC Robotics in the UK, extending its WAAM reach into regions where local integration expertise is the key barrier to adoption.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ValCUN-Minerva-printer.jpg)ValCUN's Minerva MMD printer.

There are several other relevant players in WAAM that we are less familiar with but that also offer wire-based metal AM technologies and are experiencing medium to significant growth. These range from Netherlands-based MX3D to UK-based WAAM3D and Germany-based Gefertec, as well as other companies offering various wire-based metal AM approaches. One is Norsk Titanium, which has been focusing specifically on [providing production services to aerospace companies like Boeing, Airbus and GA-ASI (General Atomics)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/norsk-titanium-and-airbus-strengthen-collaboration-with-ded-agreement/) using a proprietary technology called Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD). The list [also includes aerospace tier-one suppliers such as GKN](https://www.voxelmatters.com/gkn-aerospace-and-us-air-force-research-laboratory-launch-8-4-million-titan-am-program/).

One of the most interesting new approaches, focusing on smaller parts, comes from the Belgian company [ValCUN](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/valcun/). Its [Molten Metal Deposition (MMD)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/valcuns-3d-printed-catalytic-air-purifier-reduces-emissions-and-costs/) proprietary aluminum AM process uses standard commercial welding wire, which is fed into a heated chamber, melted, and extruded through a nozzle directly onto the build surface. The MMD platform is available as the standalone Minerva printer or as a compact print head for integration into existing production lines.

VoxelMatters recently had the opportunity to get a much closer look at this machine and its capabilities. To learn more about this technology, follow this space. There will be a dedicated story coming out this week.