Making Satellites In Space

Commercial Competition Finding Way Onto ISS, Aviation Week
“Made In Space has booked the first six months of that capability, counting among its customers aerospace companies that want to use the 3D printing technology it offers to build subscale satellite structures optimized for microgravity, as well as tools and other objects that may be used in space. Engineering schools have also bought time on the device, and Made In Space plans to use it for its own experiments under a $20 million NASA technology development award. Rush said a typical run in the AMF will cost a customer $10,000-$20,000, with the selling point being a capability to manufacture structures and other objects that don’t need to be rugged enough to survive the g-forces and other loads associated with space launch. That could enable “gossamer” spacecraft components that could not be built on the ground. The company will use the AMF capability to develop subscale test structures for the “Archinaut” advanced manufacturing and assembly hardware it is developing for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate under a two-year, $20 million “Tipping Point Technology” contract awarded last fall.”