CSEM and Almatech Test Reusable 3D-Printed Shock Absorber for Space Landing Gear-3DPTimes

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CSEM and Almatech Test Reusable 3D-Printed Shock Absorber for Space Landing Gear

October 29, 2026 Applications 3DPTimes | Source: CSEM 16

The ESA-supported RESHAPE project uses nickel-titanium lattices that recover their shape when heated; flight qualification remains ahead.

Illustrative photograph of a nitinol wire end, photographed by Julissagreen on August 9, 2023. This is not the RESHAPE lattice, CSEM or Almatech hardware, or an additively manufactured test specimen. Source: Wikimedia Commons, File:Nitinol-wire-end.jpg (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nitinol-wire-end.jpg). CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Complete browser-displayed photograph reproduced as a JPEG copy; not the original source bytes, with no content changes; displayed to fit the page. This reproduction is shared under the same license.

CSEM and Almatech have demonstrated a reusable shock absorber made with 3D-printed nickel-titanium lattices for spacecraft landing systems, CSEM reported on October 26. The 18-month RESHAPE project received support from ESA’s Discovery & Preparation programme.

The concept uses a shape-memory alloy structure that compresses during impact and recovers its original form after heating. The partners investigated four lattice geometries, then tested specimens under slow compression and high-speed impact conditions. A compression, heating and recovery sequence was repeated 24 times.

A larger, approximately coffee-can-sized demonstrator supported the concept’s scalability. CSEM reports that its performance met the energy and peak-load requirements of the target landing scenario when evaluated at full scale, with stable behavior across 24 reuse cycles. These are project-reported results from a sub-scale demonstrator.

CSEM developed laser powder bed fusion parameters and supplied test data for Almatech’s landing-leg analysis. Further development and qualification are still needed before flight-ready hardware. The work points toward reusable landing components; it does not establish operational deployment on a spacecraft.

Source: CSEM, October 26, 2026. https://www.csem.ch/en/news/reshape-reusable-space-landing-gear/