What Happened
German startup Orbital Matter successfully 3D-printed a half-meter long rigid beam out of a custom plastic material in the vacuum of space, according to TechCrunch. Executives at the company described the achievement as a first for a free-flying spacecraft in orbit and an important step toward constructing large structures directly in space.
The Details
The milestone was achieved using the company's small satellite named Replicator 2, which launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission this summer with four 3D printers onboard. Each printer builds a rigid, cylindrical beam by extruding resin coils that are cured using ultraviolet light, a process likened by the company to cement and water. According to Orbital Matter CEO and co-founder Jakub Stojek, the mission proves that structures can be built in space at whatever size a mission demands. CTO and co-founder Robert Ihnatsin noted that the company placed multiple printers on the satellite to learn in orbit and adapt software rather than spending years testing on the ground.
While two of the printers were designed to deploy a flexible solar array, an anomaly caused one of the printers to fail. However, the successfully created boom managed to deploy the solar array, serving as a vital proof of concept. The current length of the boom is limited by the amount of resin carried on the satellite, but engineers believe that 100-meter booms are feasible. In comparison, SpaceX Starlink V2 satellites use 20-meter solar arrays.
Background
Currently, large space structures are deployed like origami projects, where large solar arrays or telescope mirrors are folded up on Earth and deployed once in orbit. While NASA previously funded efforts such as a 2023 mission with Redwire that 3D-printed structural beams inside a ground vacuum chamber, those efforts never left the ground. Previous 3D-printing in microgravity was otherwise restricted to the pressurized environment of the International Space Station. Orbital Matter was co-founded in 2022 by Ihnatsin—formerly of FormLabs—and Stojek, and has raised a $3 million seed round. The startup collaborated on Replicator 2 with the European Space Agency and European satellite builder Thales Alenia.
What It Means
Future spacecraft will need to be larger to generate more electrical power and dissipate heat, especially if they are to serve as orbital data centers, but they still must fit inside rocket fairings. Enabling spacecraft to construct their own structures in orbit simplifies these power and heat-dissipation challenges. Orbital Matter is currently working on a subsequent demonstration mission scheduled for 2028, which will test a larger printer on a bigger satellite intended to deploy a solar array generating 5 kW of power. This serves as a stepping stone toward larger deployments aiming for 100+ kW per wing by 2030. Furthermore, the company is collaborating with satellite builders considering its printer-assisted deployment system (PADS) to extend components such as antennas and solar panels.