3D-printed Rocket Pad

ICON 3D- printed a student-led designed, prototype rocket landing pad for NASA.

The vented design was created to slow rocket exhaust and redirect the plume away from the lunar surface to avoid damaging nearby habitats and equipment on upcoming lunar missions.

The 20' diameter subscale launch and landing pad design was printed in 7 hours and took an additional 14 hours to infill completely.

A static hot fire test was performed on the vented pad using a solid rocket motor to evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated flame diverters inside the pad itself.