Major breakthroughs in 3D printing systems are helping to pave the way for manufacturing in space.
Dr. Gilles Bailet of the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow has been granted a patent for a system that enables on-demand construction during a space flight.
He hopes the technology - which has been tested on a zero-gravity research plane - could make space exploration more sustainable and minimize space debris.
Dr. Bailet stated that his invention, utilizing granular materials, could enable the mass production of unique equipment in space that cannot be manufactured on Earth.
"As the cost of launching items into space continues to decline, we are witnessing an increasingly large number of items being sent into space, and this trend is not maintainable," Dr. Bailet stated.
Our vision is to make it possible to create products directly in space via 3D printing, which in itself will lead to the possibility of recycling space materials and achieving a totally circular economy model.
The International Space Station (ISS) received its first 3D printer in 2014 and research into manufacturing items in space outside of Earth's gravitational influence has been ongoing, both on the ground and in orbit ever since.
Dr. Bailet's prototype 3D printer uses a granular material unlike the filaments commonly used on Earth.
Although navigating in microgravity and the emptiness of space presents difficulties, the materials can be retrieved from a feedstock reservoir and transported to the printer's nozzle at a quicker pace than other methods.
It was tested in November as part of the 85th European Space Agency parabolic flight campaign with Novespace in Bordeaux, France.
The team took their testing kit on three flights, providing them with more than 90 periods of weightlessness during rapid ascents and sharp descents.
"It was truly breathtaking to see the technology functioning flawlessly just as I had envisioned it," he said, referring to the tests on the aircraft equipped with zero gravity, known for its rollercoaster-like motion that offers 22 seconds of weightlessness each time it crests a peak.
Now that we've confirmed our technology functions properly in space, we'll proceed with the first demonstration in space as part of our next planned development milestones.
Dr Bailet and his colleagues are also investigating methods for integrating electronics into the materials during the printing process.
"It's currently standard practice to construct all objects that enter Earth's orbit on the planet's surface before launching them into space via rockets," Dr. Bailet stated.
They possess tightly constrained mass and volumes and can damage themselves severely during launch, resulting in the destruction of valuable cargo when their mechanical limits are exceeded.
He emphasized that products made on Earth can be "less robust in the vacuum of space", and 3D printing has only been successfully completed in the pressurized modules of the ISS so far.
While Dr. Bailet's project is currently focused on constructing components to boost spacecraft capabilities, such as radiators and antennae, the goal is that one day equipment can be manufactured in space.
Considering the possibilities on Mars, infrastructure could include solar panels to produce zero-carbon power for transmission back to Earth, enhanced communication antennas, and research laboratories that can develop more potent and pure pharmaceuticals.
"Crystals grown in space are often larger and more well-organized than those created on Earth, so orbital chemical plants could produce new or enhanced medications for delivery back to the surface," he mentioned.
Dr. Bailet and his team are currently in search of funding to assist in the first demonstration of their technology in space.