Pangea Aerospace of Barcelona and Aenium, based in Valladolid, have entered into a strategic collaboration aimed at redefining rocket propulsion through advanced additive manufacturing and novel materials. The partnership focuses on the development and industrialisation of complex combustion devices, leveraging both companies’ expertise to address some of the most persistent engineering challenges in space propulsion.
Central to the effort is Pangea’s aerospike engine demonstrator, known as DemoP, which operates on liquid oxygen and methane. The aerospike design, long studied but never flown, offers efficiency gains of up to 15% compared to conventional bell nozzles, along with potential reusability and reduced costs. Pangea has tasked the consortium with the R&D, manufacturing, and industrialisation of this demonstrator, aiming for a hot-fire test by the end of 2021.
The aerospike’s promise has historically been tempered by significant technical hurdles, particularly in cooling and manufacturing. Traditional methods have struggled to manage the extreme thermal loads and geometric complexity of the nozzle. Here, additive manufacturing provides a decisive advantage, enabling intricate internal cooling channels and optimised geometries that would be impractical or impossible with subtractive techniques.
A key innovation in the partnership is the introduction of NASA’s GRCop-42 alloy to the European aerospace market. This copper-chrome-niobium material, dispersion-strengthened for high conductivity and strength, was developed for high heat flux environments such as regeneratively cooled combustion chambers and nozzles. It offers excellent oxidation resistance and thermal performance under the harsh conditions of rocket engine operation.
“The agreement with Aenium goes beyond shared exclusive capabilities on GRCop42 in Europe, a copper material specifically developed for rocket engines. Aenium also brings unmatched expertise and R&D capability in processes and materials,” stated Adrià Argemi, CEO of Pangea Aerospace.
The DemoP will incorporate a dual regenerative cooling system, utilising both methane and liquid oxygen as coolants. This approach maximises thermal management efficiency by exploiting the properties of each propellant, a technique that requires precise engineering and benefits greatly from additive manufacturing’s ability to integrate complex cooling passages directly into the engine structure.
Historically, notable aerospike prototypes such as the J-2T, XRS-2200, and RS-2200 demonstrated the concept’s potential but were ultimately grounded by the inability to produce cost-effective, durable hardware. The combination of AM processes and advanced alloys like GRCop-42 now offers a path to overcoming these limitations, reducing production time and enabling performance levels previously unattainable.
“GRCop42 based alloys are one of the key solutions that allow us to solve the thermal challenges of aerospike nozzle rocket engines. We are now ready to offer this unique capability to all the European aerospace sector,” added Argemi.
Beyond the demonstrator, Pangea has initiated preliminary design work on a larger, commercially viable aerospike engine and its subsystems. This next-generation propulsion system is intended to be reusable, aligning with broader industry trends toward cost reduction and sustainability in launch operations.
“This alliance will propel the next generation of reusable rocket engines, also bringing the opportunity to the EU market to improve their combustion devices with the most innovative material science and qualified industrial Additive Manufacturing,” stated Miguel Ampudia, CIO of Aenium.
The collaboration exemplifies how targeted partnerships between propulsion specialists and materials experts can accelerate the maturation of advanced concepts. By merging aerospike architecture with additive manufacturing and high-performance alloys, the Pangea-Aenium team is working to deliver engines that meet the demanding requirements of modern spaceflight while opening new possibilities for European aerospace manufacturing capabilities.