Industrial Crystallization Facility for Nonlinear Optical Materials

Made In Space, Inc. (MIS) proposes the development of an Industrial Crystal Facility (ICF) for microgravity product manufacturing and applied research. The ICF is focused on advanced materials engineering, rather than biomedical research, and serves a complimentary role to existing NASA-developed hardware, expanding utilization of ISS. Intended applications include nonlinear optical single crystals and other relatively large material formulations. This is a critical next step in the development of Low Earth Orbit as an economic development zone, using the ISS National Lab as a proving ground and following the forthcoming Made In Space Fiber (MIS Fiber) demonstration of manufacturing a product in space with economically-significant intrinsic value on the ground. The ISS National Lab serves as an ideal platform to explore whether industrial crystals can be grown in microgravity to larger sizes and/or improved quality as compared with terrestrial sources. Existing low temperature solution growth methods take days to weeks to complete, so parabolic flights and suborbital vehicles are not suitable for establishing process baselines and making effective comparisons. Microgravity production holds the potential for room-temperature production of NLO materials for high-energy applications with size and quality undiminished by the effects of sedimentation and convection. A new facility is needed to explore the feasibility of microgravity-enabled industrial crystals as a new product market for Low Earth Orbit.