WHEN the Zeus-1 satellite was launched into space on Dec 18, 2022, it carried a tiny “representative” of Singapore: a component created by a local 3D printing company.

Creatz3D specialises in such business-to-business (B2B) collaborations with companies in the semiconductor, medical and aerospace fields, among others.

This particular foray began when space companies Qosmosys and NuSpace approached Creatz3D to design and print a test container for the Zeus-1 satellite. They had no “preconceptions” about how 3D printing might benefit them, recalls founder and general manager Sean Looi.