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Orbital Matter 3D-prints half-metre beam in orbit with Replicator 2 satellite
German startup Orbital Matter has produced a rigid half-metre beam aboard its Replicator 2 satellite, an in-orbit manufacturing first the company says could pave the way for larger spacecraft and orbital data centres.
The beam was extruded by one of four 3D printers carried on the small satellite, which launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission earlier this year. Each unit builds a rigid cylindrical structure by laying down coils of a custom resin that is cured with ultraviolet light — a process the company likens to combining cement and water.
Executives describe the demonstration as the first time a free-flying spacecraft has manufactured such a structure in the vacuum of space, and position it as an early step toward assembling large hardware in orbit rather than on the ground.
The constraint the technology addresses is physical: payloads must fit inside the fairing on top of the rocket that carries them aloft. Future spacecraft, however, are expected to need greater size to generate more electrical power and to radiate more heat into the vacuum, requirements that become especially pressing for proposals to operate data centres in orbit.
"Replicator 2 is the first proof that we can simply build the array in space, at whatever size the mission demands," said Jakub Stojek, chief executive and co-founder of Orbital Matter.
The company is working with the European Space Agency and Thales Alenia, a major European satellite manufacturer that collaborated on the Replicator 2 mission.