Germany’s DCUBED Ready to Demonstrate Reality of In-Space Manufacturing

Photo by DCUBED

A German new space company is set to show the benefits of in-space manufacturing in 2024. DCUBED aims to demonstrate in-space manufacturing as part of a demonstration mission early next year. The hardware manufacturer announced its plans Aug. 10. The company claims that this will be the first time ever that a product has been manufactured in free space.

The demonstration will see the production of a roughly 30 centimeter high, 3D printed truss structure, and is designed to prove the efficacy of in-space manufacturing and highlight the game-changing potential that such capabilities promise to deliver for production in-orbit.

This program includes an in-orbit experiment of truss-structure manufacturing in 2025 and an in-orbit mission demonstration, in 2026, for a multiple kilowatt (KW) SmallSat solar arrays.

“Our demonstration of manufacturing in free space promises to revolutionize in-space fabrication and repair of space structures and trigger a paradigm shift in how we approach the production of space hardware, opening many doors which we can’t even imagine right now. This is a truly disruptive enabling technology.”

This program includes an in-orbit experiment of truss-structure manufacturing in 2025 and an in-orbit mission demonstration, in 2026, for a multiple kilowatt (KW) SmallSat solar arrays,” Thomas Sinn, CEO and Founder, DCUBED said in a statement.