Luxembourg’s Saturne Technology builds rocket engines in-house using laser tech and metal 3D printing—delivering complex, ignition-ready parts directly to clients.
Sometime in 2026 or early 2027, Zéphyr, a 19-metre tall rocket developed by the French start-up Latitude, will launch into space. Seven “Navier” engines at its base will propel it skyward, with an eighth engine placing the rocket’s second stage into orbit.
What makes these engines unique is that they have been produced entirely through 3D printing at Saturne Technology’s facilities in Contern, Luxembourg.
“Today, we produce rocket engines entirely in-house and deliver them to the client,” explains Walter Grzymlas, founder and CEO of Saturne Technology. “The client can then integrate them directly into their launcher—installing their computers and sensors—before initiating ignition.”
Saturne Technology is already well embedded in the New Space sector. Alongside Latitude, it collaborates with five other companies in North America and Europe.
“We produce 3D-printed engines that work,” Grzymlas emphasises— “engines that actually fly, whether for missiles or small launchers.” While many other players claim similar capabilities, proof of functionality is often still lacking. “On our side, we’ve completed ignition tests, and flights are already scheduled.”
An Unexpected Trajectory
How, then, did a Luxembourg company become a rocket engine supplier for the next generation of New Space pioneers? Nothing in its origin story suggested such a trajectory. Grzymlas has spent his entire career in metallurgy. Holding a master’s degree in materials metallurgy with a focus on laser applications, he started out overseeing TIG and laser welding processes at industrial firms, eventually rising through the ranks to become deputy director of a French company by the late 1990s. That was when the entrepreneurial spark took hold. Over two years, he developed a business plan, pitched it to financial partners, and sought out potential clients. Saturne Technology was founded in 2001 with a team of four, and production commenced that February.
Discovering Metal Additive Manufacturing
Initially, the company focused mainly on laser applications: welding, drilling, cladding, and laser cutting. Around a decade later, Grzymlas discovered metal additive manufacturing—better known as metal 3D printing. This technology builds up metallic parts layer by layer, setting it apart from traditional “subtractive” methods such as machining. It offers the key advantage of creating components that are impossible to manufacture by conventional means—whether due to intricate assembly requirements or extreme miniaturisation.
Grzymlas’s interest in this technology was no coincidence. Saturne Technology was already working with numerous players in the aerospace sector. “They were intrigued by the idea of a subcontractor moving into 3D printing,” he recalls. It then took him two years to source a machine supplier, purchasing the company’s first metal 3D printer in 2012. Today, Saturne Technology operates five such machines, including two EOS M400-4 models—powder-bed laser fusion systems capable of producing parts of up to 40 cm³ in one go. It was this very EOS M400-4, using Inconel 718, a nickel-based alloy, that manufactured the “Navier” rocket engines.
Launch H2 of 2026
Since late 2024, Saturne Technology has also been qualifying a new machine capable of producing parts measuring 60 x 60 cm with a height of up to 1.5 metres. “That’s absolutely huge—only three suppliers worldwide offer such capabilities,” Grzymlas says. The machine is expected to be operational by the second half of 2026. Operating such equipment, however, requires strict adherence to rigorous standards and specific protocols. In 2015, the company invested in three in-house laboratories for technical expertise.
This infrastructure has made Saturne eligible to produce components for aerospace, space, industrial, and medical sectors. “Today, Saturne Technology possesses the know-how and is recognised by major clients for its end-to-end supply chain,” says Grzymlas. “We can manufacture parts almost entirely in-house—up to 90–95%.” This provides reassurance to clients, particularly those in the New Space sector, who operate under strict confidentiality and prefer to deal with a single subcontractor rather than multiple suppliers.
A Uniquely Specialised Skillset
Currently, around 40% of Saturne’s activity is devoted to additive manufacturing, with the remaining 60% focused on laser applications. Its client base spans several sectors: medical (15%), industrial (25%), and, most notably, aerospace and space (60%). For instance, the company supplies turbines to Siemens and Alstom, and components for aircraft engines powering models such as the Rafale, Mirage 2000, and the A400M for groups like Dassault and Safran. Saturne Technology appears to have built a uniquely specialised skillset. According to Grzymlas, only five other companies in Europe possess similar capabilities. “These are cutting-edge technologies that require highly specialised expertise.”
“Our seven machines operate 24/7, and we only need two people to oversee them”
The company currently employs 22 people—a compact team that highlights one of the key advantages of 3D printing: once the process is running, it’s largely autonomous and requires minimal staffing. “Our seven machines operate 24/7, and we only need two people to oversee them,” says Grzymlas.
After more than two decades in operation, Saturne Technology is now opening its capital to new industrial investors in order to accelerate its technological and economic growth. The company is also eyeing expansion beyond Luxembourg, with plans to establish new facilities in other European countries such as Spain and Austria, to reduce lead times and strengthen supply chain security. The expansion could even extend to the United States. As Grzymlas notes, “We’ve had visits from the US government, which expressed interest in having a facility on their soil.”
“We’ve had visits from the US government, which expressed interest in having a facility on their soil”
This article was published in the 7th edition of Forbes Luxembourg.
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