Ireland Builds Its First 3D Printed Rocket Engine — Students Design, Metal AM Produces

Ireland has entered the race for domestic rocket propulsion capability — with students leading the charge. The University of Limerick Aeronautical Society High-Powered Rocketry Team (ULAS HiPR) has announced the design and development of what they describe as the countrys first additively manufactured liquid rocket engine.

Lúin of Celtchar: A Student-Designed Propulsion System

Named Lúin of Celtchar (pronounced "LOON of KELT-char"), the engine delivers 2 kilonewtons of thrust, burning isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and nitrous oxide as propellants. The engine features a water-cooled architecture — a sophisticated design for a first-generation student project.

All concept and design work was carried out entirely by students, demonstrating the growing accessibility of advanced manufacturing techniques in aerospace education.

A National Collaboration

The project is a collaboration between:

• ULAS HiPR — the student rocketry team at University of Limerick
• University of Limerick — providing academic support and facilities
• Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) — providing advanced manufacturing capability at their lab in Mullingar

With the design phase complete, fabrication is now underway at IMRs Advanced Manufacturing Lab using metal additive manufacturing. Once printed, the hardware will be returned to University of Limerick for precision finishing, machining, and final assembly — keeping the entire production process within Ireland.

International Ambitions

Founded in 2022, ULAS HiPR now counts over 100 students across aeronautical, mechanical, software, and design engineering disciplines. The team has already competed at international events including Mach-24 and the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC).

Their latest achievement: acceptance into the Race2Space 2026 International Propulsion competition — validating the technical ambition of the project.

"The selection of the first additively manufactured liquid rocket engine in the Republic of Ireland into the competition validates the technical ambition of our student team, and the strength of collaboration between Irish university students and industry. It demonstrates that world-class propulsion innovation can now be designed, manufactured, and tested entirely here in Ireland."
— Jay Looney, Co-head, ULAS HiPR

Ireland's Growing Space Ecosystem

This development coincides with Irelands expanding space sector. In late February 2026, Ireland launched its first European Space Agency (ESA) Phi-Lab — one of only ten across Europe — at IMRs Mullingar headquarters, in partnership with the AMBER Centre at Trinity College Dublin.

This positions Ireland as an active contributor to the global space economy, with additive manufacturing playing a central role in domestic capability building.

Europe's AM Push for Space Sovereignty

Europes investment in aerospace additive manufacturing is increasingly a sovereignty play. The continents space ambitions require the ability to design, produce, and qualify critical propulsion hardware without dependence on non-European supply chains.

Additive manufacturing makes domestic production viable at speed — cutting lead times, reducing tooling costs, and enabling rapid iteration on complex geometries. ESA has formalised this through its Future Launchers Preparatory Programme, which identified 3D printed propulsion as a key element of Europes strategy for independent access to space.