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Mighty Buildings’ Commercial House 3D Printing Automates Construction by 80 Percent

3D printing construction today can build more than just walls, structural shells or components. It can build the entire house, as Mighty Buildings has shown, including floors, ceiling, roofs and overhangs. Completed this month, the Mighty Duo B model is a 700-sq-ft ADU with one bedroom, one bath, and a kitchenette. As Slava Solonitsyn, CEO and Cofounder of Mighty Buildings points out,

“As soon as you are able to produce not only the walls but also floor and ceiling, that saves a huge amount of hours, and specifically labor hours, which are very expensive,”.

3D Printed Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). Image Courtesy of Mighty Buildings

Additive construction has been increasingly expanding beyond proof-of-concept or research projects, and into commercial applications over the last few years. Increasing urbanization, rising costs of construction, and the need for affordable housing is driving the development of 3D printing applications in real-world construction. In addition, McKinsey reports estimated that California would need 3.5 million homes by 2025, and that improvements in productivity in the global construction industry could add $1.6 trillion (2% of the global economy) to the sector’s value—both areas that construction 3D printing technology is positioned to address.

The company, based out of California, U.S., has received $30 million to date (from Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, and others), and has just announced its launch out of stealth. Mighty Buildings uses a 20-foot tall 3D printer, the Big-G, which can output at speeds of 120 millimeters per second, to construct a 350-square-foot studio in under 24 hours.

Image Courtesy of Mighty Buildings

The material used is a low-priced Light Stone Material (LSM), a thermal composite that hardens when exposed to UV light. Similar to Corian, a typical kitchen countertop material, LSM “freezes in air” on exposure to the light. While traditional walls are traditionally made from several materials, Mighty Buildings relies on a single material to print a monolithic shell (that improves its insulating properties, thermal and energy efficiency to the highest existing standards) with channels built in for electrical and plumbing requirements.

Chief Sustainability Officer at Mighty Buildings, Sam Ruben explained,

“From a sustainability standpoint, by being able to print the roof and the floors as well as the walls, it allows us to create monolithic shells that increase the airtightness, reduce the thermal leakage, and increase the overall energy efficiency of the structure, making it really easy to meet California zero net energy standards. We can even go past that into Passive House and other standards that are on the cutting edge of what energy efficiency can do.”

Compared to traditional construction methods, Mighty Building’s production platform saves 95% on labor hours, doubles the rate of traditional construction, and produces ten times less waste. The automated 3D printing construction process also automates up to 80% and saves a further 20-30% in costs compared to traditional prefab process, as the machine prints the entire structural shell of the home, as opposed to 3D printing sections for on-site assembly.

Mighty Buildings initially focused on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or backyard homes, since these were easier to obtain permits for than for empty lot construction. The Mighty Duo B unit took a total of five weeks to complete from construction to installation. The company says it is now ready to scale production having obtained certification and building code compliance for its advanced technology and material solutions. The company was the first to be certified under California’s UL3401 standard for 3D-printed building structures under the state’s Factory Built Housing program.

Advantages over the conventional prefab construction process. Image Courtesy of Mighty Buildings

The offering from Might Buildings also has other advantages, in that their customers do not have to be dependent on multiple subcontractors (for roofing, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and more) with unpredictable schedules for construction. The 3D printing construction company claims its turnkey solution simplifies the process “by being the only entity that you need to work with from start to finish.”

Image Courtesy of Mighty Buildings

The company has since installed units in San Ramon, and San Diego, and has fifteen more such ADUs under contract. These units can cost up to 45% less than comparable homes built traditionally. Their production as a service platform also allows for custom floor plans for each unit, using optimized software and low-cost printing materials in their design-to-production solution. Unlike concrete, typically used in 3D printed housing, Mighty Building’s material is lighter, has better thermal insulation properties, and can be tailored by robotic arms, in a production system that is 80% automated. The company is expanding its offerings in ADUs with six customizable options available (with the cost of the unit is roughly $314 per square foot) from 350 square foot studios priced from $115,000 to three-bedroom housing priced up to $285,000.

The company is now looking to develop a fiber-reinforced material comparable to steel, that would allow the 3D printing of multi-story, multifamily homes for dense, urban housing. Developers will be the primary customers for Mighty Buildings, as opposed to one-off customers, and the company will look to mass produce affordable, customizable housing from small factories setup in urban markets.

ICON, another company in this emerging sector, is bringing cutting edge 3D printing construction technology in an affordable, accessible way to low-income or homeless populations. Partnering with a non-profit called New Story, ICON is looking to build low-cost houses, the world’s first 3D printed neighborhood, in Mexico for rural populations. The company was the first company to obtain a building permit in the US to construct a 350 square foot 3D printed house in the Austin, Texas. The second version of its 3D printing system, the Vulcan II, can 3D print a 800-square-foot house in 24 hours for less than $4000. In New York, AISpaceFactory, that won the NASA 3D Printed Habitat Challenge expanded on its MARSHA design to build TERA, a Mars-inspired future of home concept house.

Winsun from China has already built multi-storied apartment buildings, and has claimed to build 10 houses in 24 hours, while HuaShang Tengda has created two-storied earthquake resistant buildings, over 4000 square feet, in just 45 days. Apis Cor, a pioneering Russian company in 3D printing construction, built a 400 square foot house in 24 hours that costs just over $10,000 to make. The firm also built the “world’s largest” 3D printed building in Dubai, UAE, a country that has pledged to use 3D printing construction technologies for at least 25% of all buildings made by 2030.

In Europe, Italian firm WASP has built one of the largest concrete 3D printers currently in the market, BigDelta, and has built an ‘ecosustainable’ 323 square foot house, Gaia, made using soil, straw and lime. A few weeks ago, one of Europe’s biggest 3D printers from COBOD (Denmark) was used to build a two-story house, Kamp C, in Antwerp, Belgium which saved at lest sixty percent on project materials, time and costs compared to traditional construction methods. In early July this year, a floating home, named ‘Prvok’ was completed, 3D printed in 22 hours using concrete in the Czech Republic. University of Eindhoven is constructing five, one story and multi-story, 3D printed houses, under Project Milestone, in the Netherlands, which will later be available through real estate agencies for customers to purchase and live in.

The advantages of 3D printing are beginning to be realized in residential and commercial-scale construction. In combination with automation and software, the 3D printing approach fundamentally reduces cost, time and improves efficiency in construction. It can be used to build entire houses now, as well as build components (tiles, slabs, and more) or tools (molds and support structures) in construction. These components and materials, from steel, basalt-based materials and improved concrete to straw and soil, may have better structural properties, improve energy efficiency and sustainability, and can be customized or personalized at the unit level. 3D printed construction can happen on-site or off-site and allows for flexibility in deployment and supply chain. 3D printed houses have already proven to meet certification or compliance requirements, to be earthquake resistant, and may be able to withstand extreme conditions or temperatures.

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Relativity Secures a New Launch Site in California for 3D-Printed Rockets

A new launch site facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California will be Relativity Space‘s latest adoption to its growing portfolio of infrastructure partnerships. With this new addition, the 3D-printed rocket manufacturer’s launch capabilities will now span both coasts of the United States, as the company already has a lease for a launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Ahead of next year’s inaugural Terran 1 rocket launch, these expanded capabilities, along with the company’s autonomous production via metal 3D printing, help drive Relativity’s momentum and customer base at a time when the space industry is booming and the number of rocket launches increases exponentially. 

To build up its launching capabilities, Relativity signed a Right of Entry Agreement with the 30th Space Wing of the United States Air Force to begin the assessment of the viability of launch operations at the prospective site. The location chosen for Relativity’s new launch complex is the current site of Building 330 (B-330) and the adjacent land, a storage facility located just south of SLC-6, the current west coast launch site for United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket. Moreover, Relativity’s senior leadership team, drawn from both longtime aerospace companies and industry pioneers, has executed dozens of successful launches at Vandenberg.

“We’re honored to begin this partnership with the 30th Space Wing and join the exclusive group of private space companies able to conduct launches at Vandenberg,” said Tim Ellis, CEO of Relativity. “The West Coast launch facilities allow Relativity to provide affordable access to polar and sun sync orbits that are critical for both government and commercial customers. The geographic southerly position of B-330 at Vandenberg offers schedule certainty and increased launch frequency that will be advantageous to our Terran 1 customers.”

Home to the 30th Space Wing, which manages the Department of Defense’s space and missile testing as well as satellite launches into polar and Sun Synchronous orbits (SSO) from the West Coast, the Vandenberg launch site would support Terran 1 as well as future Relativity Space capabilities, offering Relativity’s customers a complete range of orbital inclinations adding to LEO, MEO, GEO, and low inclination orbits possible at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 16.

“The 30th Space Wing takes great pride in supporting the next generation of leaders in space. We are impressed by Relativity’s innovative approach to reinventing aerospace manufacturing via 3D metal printing and robotics paired with an executive team of seasoned aerospace leaders. We look forward to working with Relativity as its West Coast launch partner for many years to come,” stated Colonel Anthony J. Mastalir, 30th Space Wing commander at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Relativity’s Los Angeles facility (Credit: Relativity Space)

Disrupting 60 years of aerospace, the California-based startup is pushing the limits of additive manufacturing as it attempts to 3D print entire orbital-class rockets. Originally based in Los Angeles, the autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations recently moved its work to a 120,000 square foot site in Long Beach, California, that will house both the company’s business operations and an unprecedented manufacturing facility to create the first aerospace platform that will integrate intelligent robotics, software, and 3D autonomous manufacturing technology to build the world’s first entirely 3D printed rocket, Terran 1. 

Up until now we only heard of four customers onboard the Terran 1 manifest, which are Telesat, mu Space, Spaceflight, and Momentus Space. However, Relativity also revealed on Wednesday, via a Twitter post, its fifth launch contract with satellite operator Iridium Communications. According to the company, as many as six Iridium NEXT communication satellites would launch no earlier than 2023 from the new launch site to be constructed at Vandenberg.

Iridium’s CEO, Matt Desch, explained that “Relativity’s Terran 1 fits our launch needs to LEO well from both a price, responsiveness and capability perspective.”

Focused on expanding the possibilities for the human experience by building a future in space faster, and starting with rockets, Relativity has been working to pioneer technology that allows them to reduce the part count 100 times by printing across Terran 1’s structure and engines, also significantly reducing touchpoints and lead times, greatly simplifying the supply chain and increasing overall system reliability.

Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral, Florida (Credit: Relativity Space)

Throughout the last five years, the company has conducted over 300 test firings of its Aeon rocket engines as part of an engine test program conducted at test complex E4 and E2 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen, nine Aeon 1 engines will power Relativity’s first Terran 1 vehicles to LEO. According to NASA Spaceflight, the propellant choice for Aeon 1 is consistent with Relativity’s stated goal of enabling an interplanetary future for humanity, especially since methane and oxygen are expected to be the easiest rocket propellants to produce on Mars. As well as highly automated 3D printing manufacturing methods that can become extremely relevant to future interplanetary space travel.

Relativity is quickly advancing towards launching the first entirely-3D printed rocket to space as it continues to engage in public-private partnerships. In fact, this last agreement represents yet another milestone that the company secured with federal, state, and local governments and agencies across the United States Government. As the first autonomous rocket factory and next-generation space company, Relativity aims to produce an innovatively designed and manufactured rocket, just in time for the upcoming new space race, where startups have the opportunity to be part of an entirely different, unknown, and competitive big new frontier for the private space industry.

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Long Beach: The New Site for Relativity Space’s 3D Printed Rockets

Commercial space companies are looking to get their technology to orbit. This decade could mark a big shift in the race for space domination, with a few big names taking over Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond. Moreover, as NASA begins to transition the domain of LEO to the commercial space industry, these enterprises are preparing to make up the backbone of their engines, rockets, and space crew vehicles to travel beyond Earth. On that path, is Relativity Space, a Los Angeles based startup that is quickly expanding its commercial orbital launch services. Just today, CEO and co-founder, Tim Ellis, announced that it has secured new headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Relativity is using Stargate 3D printers to make big and small parts, like this sub-scale vessel designed for pressure testing (Image: Relativity Space)

The 120,000 square feet site will house both the company’s business operations and an unprecedented manufacturing facility, as they will be producing the their 3D printed rocket, the Terran 1, a launch vehicle that the company plans to build in only 60 days from raw materials and by 3D printing the structure as well as the engine. The company is already printing large-scale, flight-ready parts of their Terran 1 rocket and this move to the new headquarters will give them five times the space to add more Stargate 2.0 3D printers, print higher structures and parts, even assemble and load rocket sections onto trucks to ship to Cape Canaveral for launch.
“Relativity is disrupting nearly sixty years of prior aerospace technology by building a new manufacturing platform using robotics, 3D printing, and Artificial Inteligence (AI). With no fixed tooling, Relativity has enabled a massive part count and risk reduction, increased iteration speed and created an entirely new value chain,” said Ellis. “I’m confident our autonomous factory will become the future technology stack for the entire aerospace industry.”

Relativity Space integrates machine learning, software, robotics with metal additive manufacturing technology to try to build an almost entirely 3D printed rocket. It claims that it is the first company to utilize additive manufacturing and robotics to build an entire launch vehicle. Relativity’s platform vertically integrates intelligent robotics and 3D autonomous manufacturing technology to build Terran 1, which has 100 times lower part count than traditional rockets and a radically much simpler supply chain. The aerospace startup hopes to launch the world’s first entirely 3D printed rocket into orbit and enter commercial service in 2021.

The new headquarters in Long Beach (Image: Relativity Space)

The autonomous factory will have high ceilings, at 36 feet, that will enable the company to print taller structures, and the 120,000 sq. ft. space will have a 300 person capacity, that’s a pretty big move, considering they currently employ 150 people across their Los Angeles office space and production facilities, their factory building at the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississipi, and at the Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The new headquarters facility will not only provide a new blank slate to support innovation and creation, but it is also located in the heart of Southern California’s next-generation aerospace community. With more than 35 aerospace companies in the area, the place is keeping up with a long-standing tradition as an aerospace hub, with space launch-service providers, satellite makers, and even drone developers coexisting.

“Long Beach has an extensive history as a leader in aerospace and aviation, and now we are at the forefront of the space economy,” indicated California Senator Lena Gonzalez. “We are excited to welcome Relativity to our ever-growing community of innovative tech companies.”

The new site will serve as headquarters and manufacturing facility for Relativity Space (Image: Relativity Space)

While 70th District Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell said: “I am proud to welcome Relativity Space to our community and wish them success as they go higher, further and faster to the stars. The aerospace industry is undergoing an economic resurgence in Long Beach, providing the prospects of good-paying jobs and further opening up the bounds of space for research.”

The Stage 2 Iron Bird, which will be the first additively manufactured tank to feed propellants to a rocket engine (Image: Relativity Space)

Relativity has already begun migrating staff to its new headquarters and is transitioning its patented additive manufacturing infrastructure as it builds out the first-ever mostly autonomous rocket factory. The factory will house all of the production for Terran 1, including the Aeon engine assembly, as well as integrated software, avionics, and materials development labs. The new facility enables the production of almost the entire Terran 1 rocket, including an enlarged fairing, now accommodating double the payload volume. The company claims that the combination of agile manufacturing and payload capacity makes Relativity the most competitive launch provider in its class, meeting the growing demands of an expanding satellite market.

The first stage of Terran 1 is powered by nine Aeon-1 engines, fueled by liquid oxygen (LOX) and methane; while the second stage is powered by a single restartable Aeon-1 Vacuum engine. Terran 1 will be able to carry a payload of 1250 kg to LEO, and 900 kg to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. The first test launch is planned for late 2020 at the Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral.

The new headquarters and factory mark another milestone in Relativity’s steady execution towards its first launch. Relativity recently closed a $140 million funding round led by Bond and Tribe Capital and has already secured a launch site Right of Entry at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 16, an exclusive-use Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA) agreement for several NASA test sites, including the E4 Test Facility at the NASA Stennis Space Center, and a 20-year exclusive use lease for a 220,000 square feet factory also at the NASA Stennis Space Center.

This type of initiative broadens the range of opportunities and continues to build the fundamental basis of the future of aerospace exploration. Rockets, like Terran 1, could move forth more science, better technology, and advance research significantly. In 2019, we saw many payloads delivered to the International Space Station (ISS), all of them filled with scientific experiments, medical research and much more, and all of them aimed at improving human life on Earth and in space. With more payload, launch, and delivery options satellites, exploration and space stations could become much less expensive. Cost reduction through competition could make space a much more accessible place. Relativity Space is breaking ground with the technology, allowing its engineers to create what they can imagine, and with this new rocket facility, the startup could become a leading force in the industry.

3D printed rocket by Relativity Space (Image: Relativity Space)

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