Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 23

100-m scale antenna array constructed via in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing.
(Image: Orbital Composites)
Primary Structure, Pressure
Vessels, Aerodynamics,
Radomes, Wire Harnesses
How many different kinds of materials
are required to form an additive
basis for self-replication? We believe
that there is more than one combination
of elements that allows for this
future. We can imagine that leading
edge materials such as carbon fiber
would be essential to make advanced
vehicles. A polymer to bind those fibers
together will also be required.
Conductors and dielectrics would
come next: wires and polymers. Radio
transparent fibers must also be included.
So, fiberglass. Most of a high-performance
vehicle can be produced
with these elements: carbon fibers, fiberglass,
wires, and polymer. Leaving
the fuel aside for one minute, ice,
these elements could create as much
as 80 percent of the vehicle. If we
could freely place these continuous fibers
conformally onto an arbitrary surface,
then the technology for self-replication
will be hugely complete.
Power Electronics, LEDs, CPUs,
Optics, Rocket Nozzles, and
Nuclear Reactor Components
High-performance materials are
needed for harsh environments. Environments
such as rocket plumes and
nuclear reactors call out for Continuous
Carbon Fibers with Carbon or Silicon
Carbide matrixes. We call these
Tech Briefs, July 2024
materials C/C or C/SiC. In-space manufacturing
of C/C and C/SiC will require
lots of heat. But, in-space manufacturing
also opens the horizon the
larger-than-ever structures: such as a
monolithic re-entry shielded vehicle
without tiles. Finding a furnace on orbit
is going to be tough. But creating
an ever-growing solar concentrator is
one way to collect the immense amount
of thermal energy required to sinter/
melt metals and activate the Carbon
and Silicon ceramic chemistries.
The optical mirrors on James Webb
Space Telescope are made from SiC.
Once a critical mass of mirrors are assembled
on-orbit, melting siliceous asteroids
will form a feedback loop of progressive
scale-up and division of solar
concentrators. The self-replication of
Von Neumann's space probe will be
close at hand. It should be pointed out
that on-Earth SiC chip foundries operate
on the Mega and Giga Watt scales. The
International Space Station by contrast
is kept to the Kilo Watt scale. Power electronics,
LEDs, CPUs, optics, rocket nozzles,
and nuclear reactor components
are all readily made from SiC. Mastering
the in-space production of SiC is a huge
leap forward for mankind's technology
of the Dyson Sphere. Melt the Belt!
This article was written by Cole Nielsen-Cole,
Founder and CTO, Orbital Composites
(Campbell, CA). For more information,
visit www.orbitalcomposites.com.
www.techbriefs.com
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http://info.hotims.com/86257-714 http://info.hotims.com/86257-714 http://www.orbitalcomposites.com https://www.techbriefs.com

Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024