DARPA’s B-SURE program aims to develop fundamental understanding of microbial capabilities for bioproduction in space.

ARLINGTON, Va. (DARPA PR) — The DoD has a role in orbital and lunar missions as defined by the US Space Force (USSF) Space Capstone Publication¹. In this document, USSF notes the “inherent value of the space domain and the tremendous influence space has on U.S. prosperity and security.” There is a critical DoD need for the continued development and future expansion of orbital manufacturing to enable and ensure supply chain resiliency, sustained technological superiority, and asset security and repair for current and future operations. To meet this unique challenge, DARPA announced today that it was taking an initial step to explore and de-risk manufacturing capabilities that leverage biological processes in resource limited environments with its Biomanufacturing: Survival, Utility, and Reliability beyond Earth (B-SURE) program.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 19, 2021 (Catalyst Accelerator PR) — Eight small businesses will come together virtually from across the country for the Catalyst Accelerator’s cohort focused on On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing.

The Catalyst Accelerator, powered by the Air Force Research Lab Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV), was developed to promote technology advancement for the warfighter and guide technology transfer for the government to industry and vice versa. The implications for in-space manufacturing are seemingly limitless. Therefore, the US Space Force, in conjunction with AFRL/RV, is seeking bold and disruptive technologies enabling on-orbit servicing and manufacturing.

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I Award
Funding: up to $125,000
Study Period: 9 months

Making Soil for Space Habitats by Seeding Asteroids with Fungi
Jane Shevtsov
Trans Astronautica Corporation
Lake View Terrace, Calif.

Synopsis

Background and Objectives: Any large, long-term human space habitat will need to grow most of its own food and recycle nutrients. For easily resupplied missions, growing crops hydroponically makes sense, but soil-based systems possess important advantages in the context of a large settlement that cannot be affordably resupplied from Earth.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (CASIS PR) — SpaceX’s 21^st commercial resupply mission (CRS-21) to the International Space Station (ISS) is slated for launch on December 5 at 11:39 a.m. EST from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The ISS U.S. National Laboratory is sponsoring more than 15 payloads on this mission that will bring value to our nation and further enable a sustainable market in low Earth orbit.

Fig. 1: Traditional Mega Fab and Minimal Fab (Credit: JAXA)

Highlights

• Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) is aiming to produce integrated circuits (ICs) for space applications with a small-volume production system (Minimal Fab) (Figure 1). Using a practical SOI-CMOS with two-layer aluminum wiring process, Technology 2018, developed by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (Figure 2), JAXA has designed an IC which contains around 1000 transistors (4bit shift resistor and an I/O circuit) and manufactured a prototype chip (Figure 3) whose operations has been demonstrated successfully (Figure 4).
• AIST has built a fully automatic Minimal Fab system, which enables a circuit designer to manufacture a semiconductor device on his own by operating a series of manufacturing equipment. Maneuvered by a JAXA circuit engineer, the new system has proven itself and produced the above ICs.
• These prototyping and operational demonstration have opened the way to manufacturing electronic devices aboard spacecraft with a Minimal Fab process, which is expected to broaden the applications of the new process.

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — JAXA and AIST have been conducting a joint research project concerning the applications of a small-volume production system (Minimal Fab) (Figure 1) to aerospace research and development applications, and have demonstrated for the first time in the world that the new system can realize ICs intended for use in space.

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HOUSTON, Jan. 18, 2017 9 (Axiom Space PR) — Made In Space and Axiom Space today, announce an agreement to be users and providers of one another’s capabilities to manufacture products in space. Made In Space is the only company to produce 3D printed products in Space and Axiom Space is the leading developer of the world’s first privately-owned commercial space station. This collaboration signifies Made In Space’s exciting transition from research phase, to manufacturing for commercial customers.

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Robin Snelson has put video and PowerPoint archives online from the Space Studies Institute’s Space Manufacturing 14 Conference, which was held in Silicon Valley at the end of October. The video archive is here. You can view PowerPoint presentations here.

Space Studies Institute Executive Vice President Lee Valentine will be appearing on The Space Show With David Livingston today (Wednesday, Oct. 6) from 7-8 p.m. PDT to discuss the upcoming Space Manufacturing 14: Critical Technologies for Space Settlement conference. The gathering will be held from Oct. 29-31 at the NASA Ames Conference Center and Sheraton Sunnyvale Hotel.. To listen listen to The Space Show, click here. For more details on […]

I just came from the Singularity University over at NASA Ames. Students presented their business proposals this afternoon for how to open up space over the next decade so that it positively affects a billion people. A total of 24 students — a third of the class — were involved in developing space projects. They will be forming companies to pursue their ideas.

There were five ventures presented:

1. Cheap Access to Space – Beamed propulsion for sending satellites into orbit
2. SWARM – An Iridium-on-steroids constellation of 300 multipurpose LEO satellites
3. Made in Space – In-space manufacturing that negates the need to ship things up from Earth
4. SpaceBio Labs – Cheap and reliable access for bio-tech research
5. AI Labs – Using artificial intelligence and virtual environments to explore and experience space.

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