Derek Thomas¹, Paul Shestople ¹, Michael Snyder¹; ¹Made In Space, Inc.

Satellite and space vehicle designs are constrained by launch vehicle shroud size and surviving launch and ascent. Astronaut assisted manufacturing and assembly has limited construction of large space-based structures due to the risks involved. Extending on the successful deployment of commercial additive manufacturing devices on the International Space Station, Made In Space, Inc., (MIS) is developing of a suite of technologies for on-orbit autonomous manufacturing and assembly as part of the Archinaut Technology Development Project. Robotic assembly and additive manufacturing (AM) have been demonstrated under simulated Low Earth Orbit environmental conditions with a thermal vacuum chamber and cyclic temperature profile. The resulting melt-extrusion produced samples provide insight into the effects of harsh environmental conditions on additively manufactured materials. The resulting properties of 3D printed bulk and thin-walled specimens provide insight to guide manufacturing process development under the harsh environments of space.