Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 25

M
anufacturing and servicing facilities in space are (finally)
moving from the pages of science fiction to
reality. For decades, we've seen movies with scenes
of spacecraft being created and serviced in beautifully
rendered factories with Earth in the background. And
many more ideas have come from authors imagining bold futures
where humanity does everything from creating giant nets
of satellites to massive, spinning space stations. Some might
lament that, back in reality, we've come so far with our achievements
in space yet fallen short of the brightest visions. How can
we have landed on the Moon 50 years ago and still be scrapping
billion-dollar satellites when they run out of fuel? However,
there's good reason to believe that the space industry is almost
done laying the foundations that will let us move from science
fiction to engineering reality.
Consider the paths that all other mass-produced vehicles
have blazed. Moving from a few bespoke cars to thousands and
then millions created a parallel move from small, local companies
to the rise of distributed manufacturing and service industries
in locations optimized in large part for economic efficiency.
Aviation, watercraft, and trains follow the same path: market
forces demand that we minimize costs by localizing and automating
the way we manufacture and service vehicles.
In the space industry, it's likely to remain most cost-efficient
to manufacture most satellites here on Earth in the near term.
There are just too many benefits to teams that can build, test,
and iterate before shipping for launch. There are outliers,
though, that would strongly benefit or even require space
manufacturing. Examples include large membrane optics,
gossamer structures, and systems too large for a single launch.
Servicing in Space
Servicing is where we're likely to see innovations in the near
term. For instance, imagine if every time your car ran out of
fuel, you left it on the side of the highway and bought a new car.
The idea is ridiculous, yet it's what we do in the space industry.
It's even worse, though, because even a tiny CubeSat can cost
$500K. For satellites that cost $500M+, it would be more analogous
to say that we'd build a new factory to create a single car
every time we ran out of gas.
Tech Briefs, July 2024
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Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024

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

Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - Intro
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - Sponsor
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - Cover1
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - Cover2
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 1
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 2
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Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 4
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Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 39
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