The patent "Composite propellant manufacturing process based on deposition and light-activated polymerization for solid rocket motors" (IT201900005788, EP3956277) has been selected to be one of the challengers at the Intellectual Property Award 2021 contest, to be hold at EXPO Dubai 2020, Padiglione Italia on February 28th and March 1st, 2022.

The event is organized by the "Directorate General for the Fight against Counterfeiting Italian Office of Trademarks and Patents" and the "Ministry of Economic Development", in cooperation with "NETVAL". The 35 finalists have been selected among 216 patents from universities and research institutes in 7 technological areas.

The patented UV-based production methodology is the result of a cooperation between Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino.

It is the key enabler for additive manufacturing of composite energetic materials and can be applied not only to space propellants but also to a wide range of terrestrial applications (such as airbags, gas generators, mining devices, etc.).

Thanks to UV-curing, toxic ingredients are removed from the production chain and long thermal treatments are no longer necessary. Improved production flexibility will grant new propellant grain shapes, opening to new performance and missions as well as reducing cost, production time, and risks for operators.

Ultimately, this technology can enable the in-situ production of boosters, even in extra-terrestrial environments for futuristic interplanetary missions.

https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=EP351851435&_fid=WO2020212785

Live streaming: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChQfN70LKoGLfeBIDF7uXH