JPL’s 3D-Printed Titanium Spring Deploys Successfully in Orbit

A 3D-printed titanium spring designed and built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena was deployed in orbit aboard a commercial satellite, demonstrating that ‘additive manufacturing’ can reduce the cost and complexity of spacecraft hardware, the agency announced last week. 

The device, called the JPL Additive Compliant Canister, or JACC, combines what would normally be five separate mechanical components — a hinge, a panel, a compression spring and two torsion springs — into a single printed titanium structure. 

It uses three times fewer parts than conventionally fabricated versions, according to NASA. 

JPL says the test shows that 3D-printed mechanisms can be built faster, cheaper and with less complexity than traditional space hardware, a potential advance for future satellite missions and NASA’s Artemis lunar program.

JACC rode to orbit aboard Proteus Space’s Mercury One, a small commercial satellite that launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 28, 2025, as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission. An onboard camera captured video of the spring popping out of its canister as the spacecraft passed over the Pacific Ocean in low Earth orbit. 

The device weighs just under 1 pound and measures about 4 inches on each side when stowed — roughly the size of a paperback book, according to VoxelMatters, a trade publication covering additive manufacturing. When deployed, the spring extends from about 1 inch to 6 inches. 

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

JACC is one of two JPL payloads aboard Mercury One. The second is the Solid Underconstrained Multi-Frequency Deployable Antenna for Earth Science, or SUM, a high-frequency reflector designed for Earth science. Together, the two payloads go by the name PANDORASBox. Both were conceived, built, tested and delivered for flight by JPL in less than one year on minimal budgets, according to the agency. 

Douglas Hofmann, a senior research scientist and principal at JPL, said the laboratory has been working to embed springs, flexures and other mechanisms directly into 3D-printed structural hardware. “Thanks to Proteus Space, JPL had a rapid flight infusion for this cool 3D printed spring,” Hofmann said.

Mercury One, described by Proteus Space as the first satellite designed using artificial intelligence, went from initial concept to flight certification in about nine months, according to the company. The spacecraft carried four payloads and was built under a SpaceWERX and Air Force Research Laboratory contract, Proteus Space said in a November 2025 statement. 

JPL internal research and development funds supported JACC, along with funding from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office. JPL developed and printed the device entirely in-house using its additive manufacturing facilities, according to VoxelMatters. 

The JACC test is JPL’s latest step in pushing additive manufacturing from laboratory prototypes to flight-proven orbital hardware, according to the agency. 

“Twelve months ago we had no mature design, no payloads and no metal in house for this first of its kind, ESPA class, four payload spacecraft,” David Kervin, CEO of Proteus Space, said at the time of the November launch. “Think about that.”