Leap71 has announced the latest development of 3D printed rocket engines designed by its generative AI, Noyron, by creating bigger, better engines that will be ready for takeoff in four years.
Following the success of smaller-scale engine designs, Leap71 is scaling its computational engineering methodology to two new engines with meganewton-class thrust: the Noyron XRA-2E5, a 200 kN aerospike engine, and the Noyron XRB-2E6, a 2000 kN bell-nozzle engine.
Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Leap71 focuses on computational engineering of prototypes for industries including aerospace, heat exchanger design, electric motors, bioprinting, and others. Its says that its computational engineering model, Noyron, provides generative design for complex objects, and describes it as “the first AI that builds machines.”
Both new motor models are complete propulsion systems, including the turbomachinery required to power them. By combining Noyron’s physics-informed generation with large-format metal additive manufacturing, components have been created at full scale, thanks to the build volume exceeding 1.5 metres in all dimensions. This is said to have eliminated the need for part assembly and post-machining processes.
“The aerospike and bell-nozzle engines we are developing are not separate efforts – they are different phenotypes of the same computational DNA,” said Leap71 managing director Josefine Lissner.
The previous manufacturing of a 5 kN aerospike engine as a single monolithic piece of copper encouraged Leap71 to build engines on a much larger scale. Parts of the larger engines added more complexity to the builds, including the 600 mm-diameter injector head of the XRB-2E6 and its sea-level nozzle.
In 2024, the company successfully test-fired multiple 3D printed rocket engines designed by Noyron and fulled by cryogenic liquid oxygen and kerosene. The meganewton-class thrust of its two new engines will, if successful, make those initial engines feel like distant history.
“The hardest challenge remains translating a computational model into real, testable hardware,” said Leap71 co-founder Lin Kayser.
“Especially in turbomachinery, where sealing, material fatigue, and transient conditions during startup and shutdown are critical. These are not just design problems – they demand practice testing, iteration, and close collaboration with manufacturing partners.”
“This is a long journey, but the speed at which we can progress with computational engineering and modern manufacturing tools is encouraging,” adds Lissner. “We believe this approach has the potential to change how propulsion systems are engineered and built.”
Leap71 is planning to complete the first test campaign of the XRA-2E5 engine within the next 18 months, with initial testing focusing on simple configurations, including gas generator cycles. Once a foundation has been laid, more advanced testing will take place. A full-flow combustion cycle is anticipated to be ready by 2029.
