A 12-month project starting September 2026 will try to replace document-heavy qualification of 3D-printed space components with a machine-readable evidence chain that ESA expects will cut redundant inspection and testing. Amsight, a Hamburg-area software vendor, leads the consortium; ESA's Future Space Transportation (FLPP) team funds the work under the FIRST! initiative for simulation and intelligence technologies. The partners will present the project at the ESA Future Space Transportation Autumn Session 2026 on October 14 in Paris.

DIQAM — Digital Qualification Framework for Additively Manufactured Space Components — attacks a bottleneck every regulated AM shop recognizes: qualification that still relies on static reports, extensive inspection, CT scans, companion specimens, and manual assembly of evidence. Additive manufacturing can produce lighter, more complex parts for launchers and propulsion, but proving each build stays slow, conservative, and largely non-reusable across projects.

What will the framework actually contain?

The project plans three deliverables:

• a space-specific reference specification;
• a Digital Part Qualification File;
• a software prototype for automated data ingestion, evidence aggregation, and statistical evaluation across the AM supply chain.

The Digital Qualification Evidence Framework is designed to connect process data, material and powder information, machine and sensor data, post-processing records, CT inspection results, and mechanical test evidence into one reusable chain. Whether that chain holds up under audit pressure will be tested on two industrial demonstrators: an ArianeGroup Phase Change Material container for Ariane 6, and an ISPTech 4U propellant tank for a CubeSat propulsion system.

The consortium spans the full supply chain: ArianeGroup, InSpacePropulsion Technologies, APWORKS, Bimo Tech, and Fraunhofer IAPT, alongside amsight as lead.

Why does reuse of qualification data matter?

The physics is not the problem — laser powder-bed fusion is a capable process. The economics of evidence are. Each qualification run generates scattered data locked in PDFs, so statistical confidence in the AM process never accumulates, and each new part repeats inspection and testing from near zero. A standardized digital file format would let a prime aggregate qualification data from multiple suppliers into one statistical database, raising process confidence and, over time, reducing test counts.

That is precisely the argument from the buyer side. "A standardized digital file format that enables us to easily access, validate and reuse qualification data from different suppliers would allow us a significant improvement of our statistical database," said André Dröse, Lead Advanced Technologies, Materials and Concepts at ArianeGroup. "Finally, this would significantly reduce testing efforts in the future by increasing confidence in the AM process."

ESA frames the payoff the same way. "The DIQAM project is important for us at ESA because it develops a digital qualification framework that can systematically reuse qualification data, reduce redundant inspection and testing, and accelerate certification, enabling realistic and efficient use of additive manufacturing for European space systems," said Daniel Chipping, Systems Engineer at ESA.

How much manual effort disappears?

APWORKS put a number on the manual burden a contract manufacturer carries today. "Today, compiling and interpreting all the quality evidence for a single part can take several hours. With DIQAM, we aim to reduce this effort to just one click," said Andreas Funcke, CTO at APWORKS.

ISPTech's complaint targets the supplier-comparison problem: relevant AM quality data sits in extensive PDF reports, making cross-supplier comparison effectively impossible. "It is nearly impossible to compare data consistently across different suppliers and sources," said Lukas Werling, CEO and co-founder of ISPTech. "Space propulsion is a critical subsystem of every spacecraft; via standardized file formats across the whole process we assure high quality, traceability and fast iterations."

Amsight's leadership position is also a commercial statement: the company positions its software as a digital quality backbone for industrial AM, covering qualification evidence, audit readiness, and process stability. "Being selected to lead this ESA FIRST! project is an important milestone for amsight," said Tim Wischeropp, CEO. "It confirms that the market's next challenge is not simply producing AM parts, but proving them efficiently, consistently, and with data that can be reused."

Does this travel beyond space?

Amsight's CCO Peter Lindecke argues it does: regulated AM production everywhere suffers from scattered evidence, manual reporting, repeated qualification effort, and limited reuse of quality knowledge. "DIQAM is a space project, but the lesson applies to every manufacturer trying to move AM from capable to dependable production," he said.

The open question after the two demonstrators run: will ESA and European primes accept a Digital Part Qualification File as formal qualification evidence, or will the framework remain a reporting convenience while CT scans and companion specimens stay mandatory?