Additive manufacturing begins long before a part is printed. It starts with the material itself. Metalysis has built its terrestrial business around producing advanced metal powders using a solid-state process (the Metalysis FFC process) that avoids traditional melting and forging. This approach is reshaping how high-performance alloys are designed, produced, and applied across space manufacturing.

By operating without melting, Metalysis enables alloy combinations that conventional methods struggle to achieve. When metals with very different melting temperatures are combined using traditional techniques, one element may evaporate before the other melts. The solid-state process avoids this challenge entirely, opening the door to new material formulations that deliver strength, durability, and thermal performance in demanding environments.

These metal alloy powders serve as feedstock for downstream powder metallurgy processes such as pressing and sintering or additive manufacturing with applications in space propulsion systems, hypersonics,  lightweight aerospace structures, nuclear fission and fusion, and semiconductor applications. The Metalysis process is far less energy intensive than traditional processes and more efficient in terms of outputs. Additive manufacturing processes further improve efficiency by reducing waste. Instead of machining parts from large billets where most of the material is removed, components are built layer by layer, placing material only where it is needed. This approach supports stronger designs with fewer parts and lower material loss, which is especially valuable in aerospace and space systems.

The same process that supports advanced manufacturing on Earth is also influencing how materials are considered for space. Metalysis’ powders are well suited for high-temperature environments and extreme operating conditions common in propulsion and spaceflight hardware. Their ability to tailor alloy composition provides manufacturers with new options to design components that balance performance, weight, and resilience.  Metalysis was recently selected by UK space firm Skyrora for the development and production of a new tantalum and niobium alloy, tanbium, to be applied in nozzles and combustion chambers. 

As space manufacturing evolves, the importance of materials innovation continues to grow. By rethinking how metal powders are produced and applied, solid-state processes like those developed by Metalysis are helping manufacturers build better alloys and more capable systems for Earth and beyond.