3D-Printed for Launch: A New Space-Grade Steel with Concrete Power

To the moon: steel that mimics concrete.

STARTER STATS

• In 2024, there were a total of 263 orbital launches, and from 2021 to 2024 (and likely 2025), the number of orbital launches continues to break records

• Space launch activity is fuelled by the boom in private space enterprises and SpaceX

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Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a new space-grade steel, a metal composite that is extremely lightweight yet high-strength, even under intense heat conditions. With high-tech 3D metal printing techniques, the team engineered a material inspired by reinforced concrete: a mesh 'rebar' of titanium alloy embedded in a metal-matrix 'cement' reinforced with nanoscale particles. This resulting composite retains its structural integrity at temperatures where traditional aluminum alloys fail.

The concrete-inspired microstructure has exceptional mechanical properties, maintaining strength at 500 °C. In aerospace, automotive, and other industries, this level of weight and heat resistance can be game-changing, enabling fuel savings, greater efficiency, and new design freedom.

The team acknowledges that cost and scaling remain challenges. However, as 3D metal printing becomes more widespread, this next-gen alloy could hit production lines faster than expected.

“Steel rebar is widely used in the construction industry to improve the structural strength of concrete… New techniques such as additive manufacturing… have now enabled us to mimic this structure in the form of a metal matrix composite. This approach gives us new materials with properties we’ve never seen before.”

— Professor Yu Zou

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