Space Facility for Orbital Remote Manufacturing (SPACEFORM)

To address NASA need in continued cost efficient International Space Station (ISS) exploration FOMS Inc. proposes to develop and deploy Space Facility for Orbital Remote Manufacturing (SpaceFORM). The new design of the module will be used on board of ISS initially to process the perspective fluoride glass compositions for optical fiber communications with intent of defining the technical details of the roadmap towards the first volume manufacturing capability on orbit. The unique property of microgravity of improving glass composition properties originally discovered by NASA scientists will be utilized for commercial and cost effective manufacturing of optical fibers with unique properties that would benefit a wide range of applications down on Earth. With high value of optical fibers per unit weight the goal of the development is to drive the expansion of space capabilities through commercially attractive and profitable manufacturing on orbit. The Phase I development will be focused on defining the path for implementation of manufacturing capability on board of ISS. The Phase II will lead to demonstration of the complete hardware and software solution for fiber production in orbital flight environment.