A satellite built by the German startup Orbital Matter satellite 3D printed a half-meter long beam out of a custom plastic material, in what executives called a first for a free-flying spacecraft in orbit, and a step toward constructing large structures in space.
The company’s small satellite, Replicator-2, was launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission this summer, with four of the company’s 3D printers onboard. Each printer can create a rigid, cylindrical beam by extruding coils of resin that are cured by an ultraviolet light, which the company analogizes to cement and water.
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