On-orbit Manufacturing and Assembly Technologies for Future Space Activities

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Background

The ability to manufacture spacecraft and associated hardware in space is expected to bring significant transformations to a wide range of space activities. By alleviating launcher fairing size limitations and launch load structural requirements, on-orbit manufacturing and assembly can achieve larger spacecraft components (e.g. antennae reflectors, solar arrays, radiators), thereby enabling better performance, more power available for payloads, and lighter structures, while reducing the launch costs.

Novel satellite servicing and maintenance logistics could be developed, including repair and recycling of spacecraft parts, lifetime extension and new business models for space assets. These benefits can enhance mission scenarios for various applications, including Telecommunications, Earth Observation, Navigation and Science. In addition, on-demand production of the required tools and hardware can be achieved through in situ manufacturing and recycling capability, in the context of long-term Exploration missions. This would reduce the dependence on cargo missions and the amount of supplies carried from Earth.

The prospect of the advent of in-space manufacturing has strongly benefited from significant developments in relevant manufacturing and assembly technologies, as well as from recent advances in on-orbit servicing and active debris removal. Several manufacturing processes have been tested on the ground or in a representative space environment and on-orbit demonstrations of spacecraft parts manufacturing and assembly are scheduled for the next few years.

While the system-level impacts of in space manufacturing have been scoped in various studies, the identified benefits are dependent on the development of manufacturing and assembly technologies able to produce the targeted parts and structures in the challenging space conditions. Depending on the application case, the manufacturing systems and processes would need to be operated in microgravity - either in a controlled environment, such as for producing items inside an orbital station, or in an uncontrolled environment, for instance for the production of spacecraft parts in orbit.

The development of adequate manufacturing technologies requires identifying suitable materials and processing techniques for the various intended applications. A thorough understanding of the effects of the processing parameters and environmental conditions on the manufactured materials’ structure and properties needs to be acquired, through experimental testing or modelling. In-process monitoring and part verification methods need to be developed to ensure that the produced items are fit for purpose. The impact of the space environment and of potential recycling operations on the produced items should be assessed.

This Research Topic invites all articles presenting research outcomes which contribute to the advancement of in-space manufacturing and assembly technologies. Research on in-space manufacturing and assembly concepts, manufacturing and assembly technologies, or specific aspects of an in-space manufacturing chain is welcomed. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas in the space environment:
• process development
• material development
• in-space recycling
• process modelling
• in-process monitoring
• inspection and quality control
• effects on manufacturing and assembly processes
• parts functionality

Keywords: space manufacturing, in-space recycling, assembly technologies, microgravity effects, quality control, Space Environment, materials, processes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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