French SME producing metal additive manufactured components for aerospace heat exchangers and space satellite optical structures.
ADDUP is a French SME specializing in additive manufacturing (metal 3D printing) for high-performance industrial components. Their core work involves designing and producing geometrically complex metal parts — particularly heat exchangers and structural components — that cannot be made efficiently with conventional manufacturing. They combine additive manufacturing with simulation and parametric optimization to maximize thermal and mechanical performance. Their work spans two demanding sectors: aeronautical propulsion systems and space observation satellites, where precision, weight savings, and material performance are critical.
Both NATHENA and VIDEO involve designing and producing metal components via additive manufacturing, with NATHENA explicitly targeting AM heat exchangers and VIDEO using low-CTE AlSi materials for satellite mirror structures.
NATHENA (€388,440) focused on designing a new AM heat exchanger for aeronautics, with keywords covering fluid simulation, topological optimization, lattice structures, fins, and multi-physics modeling.
NATHENA keywords include parametric, topologic, simulation, and multi-physic, indicating ADDUP applies computational design methods to optimize AM part geometry before fabrication.
VIDEO involved freeform mirrors, low-CTE AlSi material, and wide-field satellite observation — suggesting ADDUP produces AM-fabricated optical support structures for small Earth observation satellites.
ADDUP's first H2020 project (2018, NATHENA) was firmly rooted in aeronautical thermal management — heat exchangers, fluid dynamics, lattice structures, and multi-physics simulation for air-cooling applications. By their second project (2019, VIDEO), the focus shifted sharply toward space optics and satellite imaging: freeform mirrors, extremely wide field-of-view systems, and low-CTE aluminum-silicon materials designed for the thermal stability demands of orbit. The connecting thread is additive manufacturing applied to high-precision, weight-sensitive components, but the application domain broadened from aeronautical propulsion to space Earth observation within a single year.
ADDUP appears to be moving up the value chain from thermal components for aircraft toward precision optical and structural parts for small satellites — a sector with strong growth momentum in the post-2020 NewSpace era.
ADDUP operates exclusively as a participant, never as project coordinator, indicating they position themselves as a specialized technology contributor within larger consortia rather than as a project driver. Their total of 8 unique partners across just 2 projects suggests they work in focused, small teams rather than sprawling multi-partner networks. This profile is typical of a niche technology SME that brings a specific manufacturing capability — in their case, metal additive manufacturing — that a consortium needs but cannot provide internally.
ADDUP has collaborated with 8 unique partners across 3 countries in 2 projects, a relatively small network consistent with their specialist SME profile. Their geographic footprint is European but not yet broad, with no evidence of partnerships outside the EU framework.
ADDUP occupies a narrow but high-value niche: they apply metal additive manufacturing to components where conventional machining fails — complex internal geometries for heat exchangers, lightweight lattice structures, and thermally stable mirror mounts for space. Unlike generalist AM service bureaus, their H2020 track record shows they engage with full design-to-performance workflows including simulation and materials selection. For a consortium needing an industrial partner that can translate a digital design into a flight-grade AM component, ADDUP offers both the manufacturing capability and the engineering competence to make it work.
