Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024 - 28

Space Servicing
MANUFACTURING AND PROTOTYPING CHANNEL
Sponsored by
Regulations are Tightening: Dish Network was fined $150K
in 2023 for leaving their dead satellite in a useful orbit. More
rules are coming not only for space junk but also for communications,
maneuverability, and mission approval. Another example:
the FCC has dropped the post-mission disposal allowable
from 25 years to just five years.
Investors are Betting Big: Gravitics is an investor-backed
company joined by like-minded companies such as Axiom, Orbit
Fab, Astroscale, Atomos, Starfish, and Varda. For Gravitics
part, we've raised tens of millions of dollars, manufactured and
tested 4-m to 8-m diameter pressure vessels, and developed key
systems such as propulsion, batteries, and shielding. Gravitics
has also been awarded a $1.7M Space Force contract to mature
our modules as tactically responsive platforms that enable new
mission applications.
With technical foundations and economic, regulatory,
and engineering motivations coming together, what can we
expect manufacturing and servicing capabilities to look like?
Peeking into the future, we present two images bracketing
use cases.
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New Frontiers: InSpace
Manufacturing
Innovations
In-space servicing, assembly,
and manufacturing (ISAM) is
expected to become a core part
of the future in-space economy.
ISAM promises to lower costs of
operating in space.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/
in-space-manufacturing
3D Printing Robots
with Bones, Ligaments,
and Tendons
With new technology developed
at ETH Zurich, researchers can now
3D print complex, durable robots
from a variety of high-quality
materials in one go.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/
3d-printing-robots
Milestone for Military's
Manta Ray UUV
DARPA has completed in-water
testing of its " Manta Ray "
uncrewed underwater vehicles.
Manta Ray represents a new class
of long-duration, long-range,
payload-capable UUVs.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/
manta-ray-prototypes
www.techbriefs.tv
28
TB TBTV Manufacturing Ad 0724_1.indd 1
6/20/24 10:12 AM
Figure 1 is an example of a human-tended manufacturing
space. We've provided a breakroom table on the right-hand
side to give you a sense of scale. In this example, the module
is split into two levels and we kept the volumes open so that
manufacturers can kit it out with the robotics, instruments,
and other equipment they need. The walls are packed with
canvas boxes representing storage. The overall goal here is to
make this a work site (crew sleep in a different module), but
we've made it comfortable with a bathroom, break room, and
soft walls.
Figure 2 is in stark contrast, though, with a large forge intended
for rare visits by humans. Forging aluminum, for instance,
requires about 660 °C and it would be better for safety
and thermal reasons to isolate the process. Instead,
robotic arms are included for remote operation. We also
provide a large volume in front of the forge so that manufacturers
can kit it out with post-forging equipment such as extruders
and storage racks. The left side of the image shows
storage bottles for the forging process. Advanced alloy production
can even occur in vacuum to minimize heat transfer
and oxidation, with an atmosphere introduced only when
humans need to enter the module. A setup like this could
also be useful for asteroid mining, on-orbit recycling, and as
a biomedical reactor.
The video shows a number of other industrial and hospitality
layouts. Our team has a lot of fun listening to customers
and rendering these concepts. At the same time, it's serious
engineering and we believe that this is the generation that's
going to build from these new foundations into a bold future
both exciting and necessary.
It no longer requires the imagination of Arthur C. Clarke
to see where the space industry is headed. We need only to
look at every other system of vehicles, appreciate the falling
technical roadblocks, and observe the regulations and resources
environment. It is with confidence that we ask not,
" if? " but, " when? " We invite you to consider, " what's next? "
because almost anything becomes possible with the right
foundations in place.
This article was written by Dr. Bill Tandy, Chief Technology
Officer, Gravitics, Inc. (Marysville, WA). For more information,
visit www.gravitics.com.
www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs, July 2024
https://www.techbriefs.com/tv/function-like-a-pro https://www.techbriefs.com/tv/in-space-manufacturing https://www.techbriefs.com/tv/3d-printing-robots https://www.techbriefs.com/tv/manta-ray-prototypes https://www.techbriefs.tv http://www.gravitics.com https://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - July 2024

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