The first metal 3D printer aboard the International Space Station successfully dripped a molten “S-curve” last Thursday, in what the European Space Agency (ESA) called “a major step forward for in-orbit manufacturing.”
The Airbus-made metal 3D printer, which combines high-power lasers and stainless steel wires, is the ESA’s Columbus Research Module.
For “safety reasons,” the machine “operated in a completely sealed box to prevent excess heat and fumes from escaping.” agency He added that the printer’s laser is “approximately one million times more powerful than a standard laser pointer.” Microgravity Researcher The French space agency CNES, together with Airbus and ESA, oversaw the project remotely from its facilities in Toulouse.
“The quality is just as we dreamed of,” Sébastien Giraud, Airbus’ lead systems engineer for the project, said in a statement. ESA’s technical director Rob Postema said the project’s success means the agency is “ready to print complete parts in the near future.”
ESA plans to continue testing the printer. “Four shapes will be selected for subsequent full-scale 3D printing, which will later be brought back to Earth and compared with reference prints made on the ground under normal gravity,” it added. Two of the printed parts will be sent to ESA’s main research center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, while the other two will be sent to the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany, and the Technical University of Denmark. ESA and Boeing did not immediately respond to PopSci’s request for more information on the subsequent printing operations.
In January the printer SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket As part of the International Space Station resupply mission, ESA stated “The ability to build more complex metallic structures in space” will be “a key asset for safe exploration of the Moon and Mars.”
NASA expressed a similar sentiment about additive manufacturing. In 2014When a plastic 3D printer extruded a print head faceplate, it became the first 3D printed object in space. The printer then Ratchet wrench and specimen containerUS agencies Claimed Allowing astronauts to print spare parts and tools as needed would help address the logistical challenges inherent to deep-space exploration, which is less feasible than resupply missions to the orbiting International Space Station.
In addition to enabling exploration, ESA also noted the impact 3D printing could have on space debris, as printing parts in space could reduce the need for resupply missions and allow astronauts to retrieve some of the debris humans leave behind in space. “One of ESA’s future development goals is to create a circular space economy and recycle materials in orbit to make better use of resources, for example by reusing parts of old satellites in new tools and structures,” ESA said.
