Made In Space, Inc. (MIS) is an American company specializing in the engineering and manufacturing of three-dimensional printers for use in

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms '' weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the ...

. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Made In Space's 3D printer (Zero-G printer) was the first manufacturing device used in space.

History

Made In Space was founded in August 2010 by Aaron Kemmer, Jason Dunn, Mike Chen, and Michael Snyder, during that year's

Singularity University Singularity Education Group (using the public names Singularity Group, Singularity University or SingularityU) is an American company that offers executive educational programs, a business incubator, and business consultancy services. Although ...

Graduate Studies Program. Their primary mission is to enable humanity to become a multi-planetary species. In the spring of 2011, Made In Space created their 3D Printing Lab at the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) labora ...

on Moffett Field in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is th ...

. That summer, they were awarded a sub-orbital flight for the printer through NASA's Flight Opportunities Program. From July through September 2011, the Made In Space team performed over 400 microgravity test parabolas on NASA's reduced gravity aircraft (the "

Vomit Comet A reduced-gravity aircraft is a type of fixed-wing aircraft that provides brief near-weightless environments for training astronauts, conducting research and making gravity-free movie shots. Versions of such airplanes were operated by the NAS ...

"), proving their 3D printing in microgravity. With this proven concept, Made In Space was award a Phase 1

Small Business Innovation Research The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a U.S. government funding program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the f ...

(SBIR) grant for the design of a 3D printer to be tested on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

(ISS). In January 2013, Made In Space was awarded Phase 2 of the SBIR to build and flight-qualify an additive manufacturing facility with their 3D printer for the International Space Station (ISS). Phase 3 was awarded in February 2013 to fly their 3D printer to the ISS. In May 2014, NASA awarded Made In Space a Phase 1 SBIR contract for the development of a recycler unit to use with the 3D printer the ISS and for their microwell project. Shortly after, Made In Space was awarded an ISS Space Flight Awareness Award. This award honors "teams that have significantly improved the efficiency, cost or capabilities of space flight". In June 2014, Made In Space showcased their in-space manufacturing capabilities at the White House Maker Faire. On 21 September 2014 at 1:52 a.m. EDT (05:52 UTC), Made In Space's Zero-G printer was launched from

Cape Canaveral, Florida Cape Canaveral ( es, Cabo Cañaveral, link=) is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 9,912 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History After ...

to the ISS on board

SpaceX CRS-4 SpaceX CRS-4, also known as SpX-4, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS), contracted to NASA, which was launched on 21 September 2014 and arrived at the space station on 23 September 2014. It was t ...

. On 17 November 2014, astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore unpacked the 3D printer from its launch packaging. On 24 November 2014 at approximately 1:28 p.m. PST, Made In Space successfully printed the first part ever manufactured in space. On 11 December 2014, Made In Space's the printer's first functional application was announced: a buckle developed by NASA astronaut

Yvonne Cagle Yvonne Darlene Cagle (born April 24, 1959) is an American physician, professor, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, and former NASA Astronaut. Cagle joined NASA as an astronaut in 1996. She is one of six African American female astronauts. Educatio ...

. This buckle is part of exercise equipment to assist with the reduction of muscle loss in zero gravity environments. On 12 December 2014, the

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile (New York City), Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the ...

re-opened after three years of renovation. Made In Space's 3D printer was one of their re-opening exhibits at the "Tools: Extending Our Reach" exhibit area. The Zero-G printer was featured along with replicas of 13 of the first 21 objects printed in space and a replica of the plate affixed to the printer, which was created by

Jon Lomberg Jon Lomberg (born 1948) is an American space artist and science journalist. He was Carl Sagan's principal artistic collaborator for more than twenty years on many projects from 1972 through 1996. In 1998, the International Astronomical Union offici ...

, the artist who designed Voyager's Golden Record. On 17 December 2014, the first uplinked tool, a ratchet, was manufactured on the ISS. All of the other items previously manufactured were printed before launch, and the files were available via an

SD card Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between San ...

launched along with the printer. The ratchet files were uplinked from the Made In Space office to the ISS space station. The ratchet took four hours to print. On 27 September 2018, the company announced an agreement with local government to open its European subsidiary in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Made In Space Europe
will work on the development of a low-cost modular robotic arm for in-space applications. On 17 January 2020, Florida governor

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...

announced the company's corporate headquarters would be relocating from Mountain View, California to

. The headquarters relocation and expansion effort will involve more than US$3 million in new capital investment for Jacksonville. Made in Space was acquired in June 2020, by

Redwire Redwire Corporation is an American aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure technology company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The company was formed on June 1, 2020 by the private equity firm AE Industrial Partners. History Fo ...

(a newly formed company of the merger between

Deep Space Systems Deep Space Systems, Inc (DSS) is a private aerospace company dedicated to systems engineering that supports the design, development, integration, testing and operations of science and exploration spacecraft. DSS was incorporated in 2001 and it ...

and Adcole Space).

3D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration

Announced in May 2013,

and Made In Space sent the first 3D printer to space, known as the 3D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration (also known as 3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment or 3D Printing in Zero-G). The scientific objective of this experiment was to prove a 3D printer could be developed for use in zero gravity. This experiment "is the first step towards establishing an on-demand machine shop in space, a critical enabling component for deep space crewed missions and in-space manufacturing". Integrated into a Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), 3D Printing in Zero-G is a proof of concept experiment. It includes printing multiple copies of planned items to test for several variables, including dimensions, layer adhesion, tensile strength, flexibility, and compressional strength. Known as "coupons", these items will be tested by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and compared to duplicate items printed on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

. The comparisons of these space and terrestrial manufactured coupons will be used to further refine 3D printing in space.

The Jon Lomberg Golden Plate

Inspired by

's work on the

Voyager Golden Record The Voyager Golden Records are two phonograph records that were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended fo ...

, Lomberg worked with Made In Space to create the Golden Plate to help commemorate the first manufacturing of something in space. It is attached internally, so it is visible through the front viewing window.

Additive Manufacturing Facility

In April 2016, the Additive Manufacturing Facility was installed aboard the ISS. It is designed to be accessible for use by NASA as well as other government agencies, academic institutions and businesses. It is currently capable of printing objects as large as 10 cm x 10 cm x 14 cm from three different polymers including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and a

polyetherimide Polyetherimide (PEI) is an amorphous, amber-to-transparent thermoplastic with characteristics similar to the related plastic PEEK. When comparing PEI to PEEK, the former is cheaper but has lower impact strength and a tighter temperature range. ...

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

composite (PEI-PC).

Recycling of 3D printer plastic

In 2014, NASA selected Made In Space as one of several companies to develop a recycler for 3D printed material on the ISS. In the follow-up solicitation, Made In Space failed to be selected for the Phase II SBIR.

Large structure in-space manufacturing

Made In Space is working with

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tec ...

and

Oceaneering International Oceaneering International, Inc. is a subsea engineering and applied technology company based in Houston, Texas, U.S. that provides engineered services and hardware to customers who operate in marine, space, and other environments. Oceaneering's ...

to build and demonstrate

Archinaut On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 2 (OSAM-2), formally known as Archinaut, was a technology demonstration project aimed at developing the necessary additive manufacturing technology to build large-scale structures in space. Phase ...

, a versatile in-space robotic precision manufacturing and assembly system.NASA seeks to break the "tyranny of launch" with in-space manufacturing
Eric Berger, ''Ars Technica'' 29 July 2019 Archinaut would enable in-space production and assembly of the backbone structures for large telescopes, repair, augmentation, or repurposing of existing spacecraft, and robotic assembly of new space stations. MIS is currently in ground testing of a central spar onto which rolled up solar arrays can be extended and locked into place. The flight demonstration, Archinaut One, is expected to be launched in 2023 aboard a

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and pa ...

rocket. The company has released video demonstrations of Archinaut's robotic assembly and Robotics Development Lab, as well as animations showing Archinaut's in-space assembly and manufacture capabilities.

Fiber optics

The multi-flight experimental payloads are producing test quantities of

ZBLAN ZBLAN is the most stable, and consequently the most used, fluoride glass, a subcategory of the heavy metal fluoride glass (HMFG) group. Typically its composition is 53% ZrF4, 20% BaF2, 4% LaF3, 3% AlF3 and 20% NaF. ZBLAN is not a single mate ...

optical fiber. Based on the results from initial experiments and market demand, Made In Space plans to develop and operate larger-scale microgravity production facilities for ZBLAN and other microgravity-enabled materials. For its fiber optics development, MIS has teamed with ThorLabs. The advantage of fiber optics produced in microgravity are much lower signal loss capabilities, which benefit long-haul communications, medical research, super-computing, and many other industries and applications.

Other activities

In 2018, MIS was awarded Small Business Innovation Research award extensions of 24 months for its Vulcan and Industrial Crystallization Facility (ICF). The Vulcan Advanced Hybrid Manufacturing System is an additive and subtractive manufacturing technology being developed for in-space applications. Vulcan enables fabrication of precisely-machined metal parts at the point-of-use, such as on the International Space Station or future crewed space platforms. The ICF on the International Space Station would also manufacture space-enabled, multi-use optical crystals in microgravity. Optical crystals are used by such industries as computers and data-processing systems. An MIS commercial recycling facility is scheduled to be sent to the

in late 2019. The facility will take in

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are categ ...

and unneeded plastic parts and physically convert them into spools of feedstock for the space station additive manufacturing facility used for manufactured-in-space parts.

References

{{Reflist Manufacturing companies of the United States Space technology 3D printer companies Companies based in Mountain View, California Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Space industry companies 2010 establishments in California Manufacturing companies established in 2010 Space organizations Space manufacturing American companies established in 2010 Redwire Technology companies based in the Jacksonville area Technology companies based in Florida