Accelerating Orbital Manufacturing Through In-Space Technology Experiments

Abstract

There is an ongoing effort to enable assembly and manufacturing in Earth’s orbit to provide space-based capabilities that are otherwise very difficult to achieve. This includes the ability to repair components, rapidly manufacture spacecraft, or build structures that may span kilometers. While the technology is challenging, most of the tools needed to perform these operations are available in some form today. However, the path from existing technology through demonstrated performance to mission-ready capability can be a slow journey. A team has been assembled to tackle some of these problems, by demonstrating some of the technologies and proposing a path to quickly demonstrate how multiple technologies can be integrated and tested faster, with an identified path to proceed to an operational capability. The authors and their partners at five universities are developing 5 experiments related to orbital manufacturing that are set to be launched within 3 years. Each experiment is about the size of a 12U CubeSat and will be hosted at the International Space Station. Four of these experiments will be tested in vacuum: polymer 3D printing, cold metal Additive Manufacturing, autonomous assembly by a small robot, and non-contact inspection. The fifth experiment will likely be conducted inside the ISS Microgravity Science Glovebox. The team recognized that developing custom solutions for each experiment should only be undertaken when driven by the technology, so where possible, a common platform will be used which could be hosted on different host vehicles. In parallel with this effort, the team is developing plans for a small satellite platform and interface standards that could accommodate payloads up to 200kg.