Metal 3D Printing & Recycling System in Space

The proposed R&D project is to develop a space-based metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) and recycling technology and integrated space crane base that will deliver key capabilities to the wide-range of OSAM mission-sets. This technology will have the on-orbit capability to manufacture metal parts utilizing AM in a zero-gravity or micro-gravity environment and recycle the thousands of tons of space debris, rocket bodies and retired satellites into usable material to be fed back into the AM system. The concept stemmed from the availability of thousands of tons of rocket bodies, space debris, and decommissioned satellites in orbit. In fact, according the DoD’s global Space Surveillance Network (SSN), there are more than 27,000 pieces of tracked “space junk” and countless more pieces of debris too small to track but large enough and traveling at high enough speeds to create significant risk to spacecrafts and satellites. The rising population of space debris is rapidly increasing the potential danger to all type of space vehicles. By utilizing Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) alongside a modular space station system, we can recycle and fabricate space frame structures, universal docking collars, modules, tanks and other space-based metals. The entirety of this process will occur in space and will enable the USSF to perform a number of OSAM missions, to include spacecraft mission extension, end-of-life servicing, space-debris clean-up and recycling, and spacecraft repair.