Microgravity 3D printing tested on ‘vomit comet’

Developed at Glasgow University by Dr Gilles Bailet, the device uses a granular material rather than the filaments relied on by most 3D printers. According to the researchers, the material’s properties allow it to be drawn from the printer’s tank to the nozzle, even in the microgravity and vacuum conditions of space. The Glasgow team is also exploring methods of embedding electronics into the material, potentially creating functional components for use in devices created in space as well as recyclable space systems.

“Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is capable of producing remarkably complex materials quickly and at low cost,” said Dr Bailet. “Putting that technology in space and printing what we need for assembly in orbit would be fantastically useful.

“However, what works well here on Earth is often less robust in the vacuum of space, and 3D printing has never been done outside of the pressurised modules of the International Space Station. The filaments in conventional 3D printers often break or jam in microgravity and in vacuum, which is a problem that needs to be solved before they can be reliably used in space.”

The printer was recently tested in the microgravity of parabolic flight in France, in collaboration with Novespace. The team took their test kit on three flights which provided them with more than 90 brief periods of weightlessness at the apex of sharp ascents followed by rapid descents – a pattern that gives rise to the flight being nicknamed the ‘vomit comet’. During each 22-second period of weightlessness, the team monitored the prototype’s dynamics and power consumption, which showed that the system worked as designed under microgravity conditions.

“We’ve tested the technology extensively in the lab and now in microgravity, and we’re confident that it’s ready to perform as expected, opening up the possibility of 3D printing antenna and other spacecraft parts in space,” said Dr Bailet.

“Currently, everything that goes into Earth’s orbit is built on the surface and sent into space on rockets. They have tightly limited mass and volumes and can shake themselves to pieces during launch when mechanical constraints are breached, destroying expensive cargo in the process. If instead we could place fabricators in space to build structures on demand, we would be freed from those payload restrictions.”

The Glasgow team is now seeking funding to help support the first in-space demonstration of the technology.