Skip to main content

3D Printing in Space (2014) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

2 The Possibilities
Pages 31-40

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 31...
... CREATING REPLACEMENT COMPONENTS IN SPACE The most immediate application of additive manufacturing in space relates to creation of replacement parts and components. Data show that a significant percentage of hardware failures on the International Space Station (ISS)
From page 32...
... call entitled "Recycling/Reclamation of 3-D Printer Plastic for Reuse." NASA is currently considering eventually transitioning from SBIR to ISS Technology Demonstration in conjunction with planned additive manufacturing activities. Recycling and reusing materials on the ISS might have a significant impact on space station operations.
From page 33...
... REPLACEMENT COMPONENTS FOR ROBOTIC SPACECRAFT In contrast to the possibility of creating replacement components onboard human spacecraft, the prospects for producing replacement components for robotic spacecraft in orbit are far less clear. For robotic spacecraft, up to 50 percent of the failures are attributable to power subsystem failures.1 In 1992, a survey was published of 2,500 spacecraft failures that took place between 1962 and 1988.
From page 34...
... In other words, additively manufacturing hardware in space could enable production of ultra-low-mass systems and parts for use, thereby easing stowing and launch requirements. Currently, large components and systems such as antennas, booms,
From page 35...
... This problem is often solved by using a larger-diameter shroud that imposes a mass penalty. While deployable structures have enabled construction of large systems, their packing efficiency is not sufficient to enable the kind of kilometer-size scaling required for many applications such as long-baseline interferometry and sparse aperture sensing.3 With the use of additive manufacturing and supporting technologies in space, on-orbit construction and "erectables" technologies can enable deployment of systems that need not conform to weight and volumetric constraints posed by launch fairings and shrouds.4 Structures envisioned include ultra-thin mirrors, gossamer structures like ribbons, large antennas and arrays, reflectors, and trusses, among others.
From page 36...
... is also exploring additive manufacturing in space. For example, the DARPA Phoenix program is developing and demonstrating technologies to harvest and reuse valuable components from retired, nonworking satellites in geosynchronous orbit and to demonstrate the ability to create new space systems at greatly reduced cost (Figure 2.5)
From page 37...
... FULLY PRINTED SPACECRAFT Additive manufacturing technology can be applied to subsystems as well as entire spacecraft and can be useful even when what it produces does not meet the conventional definition of a spacecraft. An example of a two-dimensional sensor being developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)
From page 38...
... enables the possibility of additively building settlements and other facilities without having to take expensive and bulky prefabricated materials out of Earth's gravitational field. Lunar regolith, for example, could be used to construct pressurized habitats for human shelter as well as other infrastructure (e.g., landing pads,
From page 39...
... Structural designers of spacecraft could have an entirely new set of implementation approaches for spacecraft configuration that might not need to account for loads and accelerations in the launch vehicle ascent process. A launch vehicle transporting material for additive manufacturing in bulk could deliver a payload to space with volumetric densities up to 100 times that currently attainable.
From page 40...
... The following chapters will explain that the possibilities of additive manufacturing in the near-term are modest -- creating replacement components, recycling parts into feedstock, etc. However, in the long run, if nearterm efforts are carefully designed and executed, the knowledge base to functionally reconceptualize space architectures could be developed.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.