Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022 - 22

Low-Earth Orbit
Enabling Technologies for a
Space Economy
Nanoracks, in collaboration with Voyager Space
and Lockheed Martin, is developing the space
station, called Starlab, expected to achieve
initial operational capability by 2027. (Image:
Nanoracks)
to be plenty of work, not only within
NASA, but also outside of NASA in commercial
LEO.
The awards are the first part of a twophase
approach to ensure a smooth
transition to commercial stations in
LEO. The first phase, expected to continue
through 2025, will allow the private
companies to create a plan and designs
that meet both private sector and
government needs. During the second
phase, NASA wants to certify these stations
for NASA astronauts to use and,
ultimately, start using them.
Developing a LEO space economy depends
on creating demand and broadening
commercial use through sustainable,
scalable services led by private
companies. " One of the things that we
have been kind of stressing to industry,
especially our partners, is that you are
not only building a space station, but you
are helping build an economy, " said
Snopkowski. " You need to think bigger
about how you can get more people into
space, so that your business case can
close at the end of the day. I do think
that if we enable it and nurture it correctly,
this is something that can be sustainable
in the future. "
There is a whole spectrum of technologies
that are being not only developed,
but also demonstrated on a regular basis
because of the number of rideshares to
space. " There is a lot of excitement
around space and investments in space
technologies. And that has just really
blossomed the number of entrepreneurs
and innovators in our industry, "
said Al Tadros, Chief Technology Officer
at Redwire Space (Jacksonville, FL),
who has more than 30 years of experience
in the space industry.
Tadros expects a tremendous amount of
advancement in space-enabled technologies,
including materials and processes that
are developed and benefit from the microgravity
environment of space. " We are
working with a number of those, whether
it's biofabrication or materials processing
on the space station. We are part of Orbital
Reef, which is going to implement a lot of
technologies into a next-generation LEO
habitat. "
Redwire Space is also building in-space
manufacturing technologies and working
on a program called On-Orbit Servicing,
Assembly and Manufacturing 2 or OSAM-2
(formerly Archinaut One). " It will literally
have a satellite that manufactures itself in
space, " added Tadros.
" Technology is cycling so fast, " said MoRedwire
is developing in-space servicing, assembly,
and manufacturing capabilities with
Archinaut, a customizable suite of manufacturing
and assembly technologies that can be integrated
into free-flying satellites. NASA's
OSAM-2 mission will leverage Archinaut to 3D
print two beams on-orbit. The first beam will
unfurl a solar array, and the second beam will
be used to characterize additively manufactured
structures in LEO. (Image: Redwire)
22
tiv's McCarthy. " Being able to build and
manufacture in space, those emerging
technologies are becoming real. And because
of that, there is a huge push in this
area to really start feeding all those technologies,
because they have matured very,
very quickly. "
Motiv is working to continually drive
down the cost of robotics and space. It
is the robotics provider for the OSAM-2
mission. " We have a product called
xLink, a modular, scalable, robotic arwww.techbriefs.com
chitecture.
Its maiden voyage is going
to be the OSAM-2, which utilizes this
new architecture that we think can also
be used for classical NASA-type missions,
robotic missions, as well as commercial
space station applications. "
The space economy has expanded by
over 60 percent in the last decade and is
now valued at over $400 billion. Creating
a robust LEO economy will be dependent
on bringing many new businesses
and people into space. It will require the
development of not only the supply of
services, but also the demand for those
capabilities.
Axiom's CTO Ondler envisions that
when their module separates from the
ISS, " That will make us switch from
launching individual pieces to actually
manufacturing modules in space. So, either
taking piece parts and building a
much bigger system, or even potentially,
using additive manufacturing to print
very large structures in space. "
For LEO space economy to flourish, we
need the ability to not only get to space
but also stay in space, as well as leverage
the resources there. " I think that 15-20
years from now, we are going to be surrounded
by objects that we can't imagine
how we live without that were manufactured
in space. And commercial destinations
are uniquely positioned to help people
manufacture things such as, retinal
implants, which are being demonstrated
on the ISS right now, " added Ondler.
" Ten years from now, it will look a lot
different. That's going to be the beginning
of a different world, " said Smith. " We are
going to see a number of providers - at
least two - offering services and capability.
I think you are going to see businesses
start to get involved and engaged in dealing
with agriculture, medical, manufacturing.
You are going to see innovations that
come out in space-based products that will
transform areas such as pharmaceuticals
and fiber optics, " he added.
There are many international players
also who want to play a significant role
in building this new space economy, so
the landscape will become competitive.
And like any economy, the commercial
LEO economy will also go through its
ups and downs in trying to settle out
into what defines it.
This article was written by Chitra
Sethi, Director, Editorial and Digital
Content Strategy, SAE Media Group. For
more information, visit http://info.
hotims.com/82324-121.
Tech Briefs, August 2022
http://info.hotims.com/82324-121 http://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022

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