Lifeboat Foundation

When history’s pilgrims and pioneers arrived in a new territory, they used the land’s natural resources to build their settlements. Space colonists, on the other hand, will have to bring materials from Earth and assemble them on Mars. Andrew Rush, president and CEO of space-based manufacturing firm Made In Space, believes the process of creating off-world infrastructure will be similar to building IKEA furniture. Only the parts will be made with an advanced 3D printer and put together by an autonomous robot.

“We think the future of in-space operation is one of manufacturing and assembly, just like how you built the table you’re sitting on right now,” Rush says. “That table is a multi-material object, and its pieces were all manufactured in different ways. I don’t think space colonies are going to take a different approach.”

A new space race is in the works, thanks to 3D printing. This time around, it’s not about large government agencies vying to blast human astronauts into uncharted territory. Instead, today’s competitors are aerospace startups like Rocket Lab and Relativity Space that are trying to launch satellites into orbit.

After two years in development, Project MELT (Manufacturing of Experimental Layer Technology) has resurfaced with a prototype microgravity 3D printer.

Made for the European Space Agency (ESA) the Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) breadboard machine is designed to 3D print high performance polymers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and other off-world locations.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=e2N1i7_13QM

Engineering.com lists some of the most exciting companies that are using 3D printing to take humans into space.

The VULCAN system from Made In Space combines metal deposition with machining to create metal parts.

This incredible 3D printer can create living human tissue.

The CEO of Inglewood space start-up Relativity is trying to automate aerospace production by using robotics and 3D printing to make satellite-launching rockets. The company plans its first test flight in 2020.

Digital Trends recently paid a fascinating visit to the headquarters of Cellink, one of the most exciting companies working on 3D bioprinted organs. Here is how the up-and-coming bioprinting company from Gothenburg, Sweden is hoping to change the future of medical science as we know it.

Meet the startup hoping to colonise the final frontier, one zero-gravity 3D printer at a time.

Olivia Solon