The use of 3D printing to enable high altitude balloon missions

The 3D printing technology allows the low-cost creation of structures based on user-defined configuration parameters. Unlike other plastic-forming technologies, there is no tooling cost related to the creation of a mold. Because of this, highly-customized structures can be created with a minimum production quantity of one, allowing adaptation to individual mission needs (for a single-HAB mission) or the change of the structure across a multi-unit run (e.g., to test various configurations or as part of a study requiring multiple payloads with different configurations). This paper considers the mission possibilities enabled by the use of 3D printing for HAB structures. These mission types include low-cost student-centric missions, atmospheric and other science missions and engineering development and testing missions. It presents two case studies to illustrate this point: the first is a low-cost approach to flying multiple small student payloads as part of a larger structure. The second is an engineering testing mission for a small spacecraft. The benefits of using this approach (as opposed to other techniques like foam-forming or the creation of custom metal structures) are considered. The paper also considers the proposed approach´s legal and technical viability. The requirements imposed by the federal aviation regulations on HAB missions are assessed. Also assessed are the environmental conditions experienced at typical HAB altitudes of 100,000 feet or higher on the 3D printed structures. Approaches for mitigating these effects are presented and discussed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possibilities for future missions enabled by 3D printed HAB payloads.