NASA JPL deploys AM manufactured mechanism aboard Proteus Space satellite

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has successfully deployed the JPL Additive Compliant Canister (JACC) in orbit, aboard the Proteus Space M1 ESPA class satellite, in a demonstration of additive manufacturing reducing part count and complexity in deployable space mechanisms.

The JACC is a deployable mechanism based on helical antenna systems that, when stowed, measures roughly the size of a small paperback book and weighs under 500 grams.

Using a jack-in-the-box style deployment approach, the system integrates its lid, canister, hinges, torsion springs, and deployable compression spring into a largely monolithic titanium structure. That design reduced part count by a factor of three compared with conventional approaches, and the mechanism also incorporates a novel embedded kinematic hinge architecture.

JPL developed and produced JACC entirely in-house, from initial concept to delivery in under a year, leveraging the laboratory’s internal additive manufacturing capabilities. It was printed from Ti-6-4 on the EOS M290 at JPL’s facility, and the mission was carried out in collaboration with Proteus Space, SpaceWERX, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Leonardo DRS, and the University of California, Davis.

Through the consolidation of multiple mechanical components into a single printed structure, the JACC design offers a potential path toward lighter, simpler, and faster-to-produce hardware for spacecraft payloads, and all produced via 3D printing.

“The JPL Additive Compliant Canister survived launch and several months on orbit prior to popping open on command,” stated Christine Gebara, Mechatronics Engineer at NASA JPL. “JACC demonstrates how additive manufacturing can reduce part count and improve compliant mechanisms in space.”

“One of the novel capabilities of metal AM that we’ve been trying to exploit at JPL is the ability to make embedded springs, flexures, and mechanisms into structural hardware for applications like deployment, flexible thermal management, pointing, or manipulation/grasping,” commented Douglas Hofmann, Senior Research Scientist and Principal at NASA JPL. “Thanks to Proteus Space, JPL had a rapid flight infusion for this cool 3D printed spring.”