Swedish metal additive manufacturing company Freemelt has secured an order worth SEK 28 million (approximately US$2.8 million) from the European Spallation Source (ESS) to manufacture and deliver 7,000 tungsten-based components for the ESS target wheel system. The delivery period is 14 months, with most deliveries scheduled for completion in 2027. These components are installed on the ESS target wheel, where a high-energy proton beam generated by the accelerator strikes tungsten material to produce neutrons for researchers to analyze materials at the atomic scale. Freemelt states that tungsten's high melting point and thermal conductivity enable it to withstand thermal, mechanical, and radiation stress, but the components still have a limited service life and require periodic replacement, creating ongoing production demand. The order is executed through Freemelt's manufacturing business segment and covers the complete value chain from material supply to finished-product certification. CEO Daniel Gidlund said the order validates the combination of its electron beam powder bed fusion (E-PBF) technology, tungsten materials expertise, and industrial delivery capability. Freemelt's additive manufacturing is based on electron beam powder bed fusion in a vacuum environment, which is suitable for reactive and high-temperature materials; tungsten, along with titanium and copper, is one of the company's core materials. The company is developing an industrial-grade eMELT system for tungsten printing that uses proprietary Pixelmelt software for point melting; its diode-type electron beam source features a laser-heated cathode and can maintain stable beam spot quality across a power range of 0 to 6 kW. Freemelt's product line includes the open-architecture Freemelt ONE, widely used in materials research, and the industrial-grade eMELT series. This order involves collaboration with value chain partners from material supply to qualified finished components, with tungsten-based components as the deliverables.