Manufacturing in Space with Robots and 3D Printing

What’s cooler than manufacturing? Manufacturing in space! However, we’re talking about NASA, so prepare for the acronyms.

NASA’s Commercial Infrastructure for Robotic Assembly and Services (CIRAS) is a program dedicated to the advancement of technologies for the in-orbit manufacturing and assembly of large structures that will help the agency meet its goals for exploring the solar system.

To do this, CIRAS is prioritizing technologies for the robotic assembly of next-generation telescopes, solar-powered transports and communications platforms. CIRAS has already begun development on reversible joints to address precision measurement and alignment through a 20m robotic arm, also known as the TALISMAN (Tension Actuated Long-reach In-Space Manipulator) and a precision jigging assembly robot.

An artist’s rendering of the CIRAS project with TALISMAN robotic arms. (Image courtesy Orbital ATK.)

TALISMAN aims to reduce costs and the potential human hazards associated with hardware transfer and assembly activities in space, but CIRAS’s project doesn’t end there.

COSM Advanced Manufacturing Systems recently joined the team to design an electron beam 3D metal printing system for in-space autonomous assembly applications.

The system will provide in-situ metrology and adaptive process control for end users in large commercial, space and aerospace applications.

“The assembly and fabrication of structures in space under autonomous robotic control, is of course, extremely challenging,” said Richard Comunale, founder and president of COSM. “Our effort focuses on development of the electron gun, optics and beam control and metrology systems for this application.”

COSM’s contribution builds on the company’s work from a previous collaboration with NASA Langley Research Center’s Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBF3) program, which used electron beams for additively manufacturing metals favored in the aerospace industry, including titanium, Inconel and aluminum.

In-Space Robotic Manufacturing and Assembly

The CIRAS program is led by Orbital ATK and is one of three programs under NASA’s In-Space Robotic Manufacturing and Assembly (IRMA) initiative.

The Archinaut Technology Development program, led by Made In Space Inc., is also developing hardware capable of building and assembling large components in space using beams and struts, with additive manufacturing.

Artist's rendering of the Archinaut payload during deployment in space. The project uses additive manufacturing to produce new or replacement structures including lengthy beams and struts (Image courtesy NASA/Made in Space).

The third program, dubbed Dragonfly, is lead by Space Systems Loral (SSL), which is seeking to enable satellites to self-assemble in orbit using robotic assembly interfaces and situational awareness software.

Artist rending of the Dragonfly technology, enabling a satellite self-assembly in orbit, a process which could maximize available payload space aboard launch vehicles and decrease launch costs (Image courtesy NASA/Space Systems Loral).

All three programs are expected to demonstrate successful robotic manipulation of structures and remote manufacturing of structural trusses on the ground, before being prepared for flight demonstration and eventual commercialization.

IRMA is managed by the Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) program for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

COSM’s work will be funded by a contract from NASA’s Langley Research Center in partnership with Orbital ATK, NASA’s Glenn Research Center and the US Naval Research Laboratory.

For more information, visit the COSM Advanced Manufacturing Systems or NASA websites.