Space manufacturing

Space manufacturing is the production of tangible goods beyond Earth. Since most production capabilities are limited to low Earth orbit, the term in-orbit manufacturing is also frequently used. There are several rationales supporting in-space manufacturing: The space environment, in particular the effects of microgravity and vacuum, enable the research of and production of goods that could otherwise not be manufactured on Earth. The extraction and processing of raw materials from other astronomical bodies, also called In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) could enable more sustainable space exploration missions at reduced cost compared to launching all required resources from Earth. Raw materials could be transported to low Earth orbit where they could be processed into goods that are shipped to Earth. By replacing terrestrial production on Earth, this seeks to preserve the Earth. Raw materials of very high value, for example gold, silver, or platinum, could be transported to low Earth orbit for processing or transfer to Earth which is thought to have the potential to become economically viable. During the Soyuz 6 mission of 1969, Russian cosmonauts performed the first welding experiments in space. Three different welding processes were tested using a hardware unit called Vulkan. The tests included welding aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel. The Skylab mission, launched in May 1973, served as a laboratory to perform various space manufacturing experiments. The station was equipped with a materials processing facility that included a multi-purpose electric furnace, a crystal growth chamber, and an electron beam gun. Among the experiments to be performed was research on molten metal processing; photographing the behavior of ignited materials in zero-gravity; crystal growth; processing of immiscible alloys; brazing of stainless steel tubes, electron beam welding, and the formation of spheres from molten metal. The crew spent a total of 32 man-hours on materials science and space manufacturing investigation during the mission.