A real "reclined race" began to form, as humans were preparing to return to the moon, staying with Artemis and subsequent missions. Lithoz, a professional ceramic additive manufacturing company, demonstrated high-resolution 3D printing using weathered layers and lunar soil (made of various ceramic minerals and metals) for a project of the European Space Agency. Redwire, the company that acquired Made in Space, took it to the next level by exhibiting 3D printing of the weathered layer in the zero-gravity environment of the International Space Station.
Redwire is becoming a leader in mission-critical space solutions and high-reliability components for the next-generation space economy. In the past, Redwire has demonstrated the use of ceramic manufacturing modules (CMM) for space ceramic 3D printing to manufacture ceramic parts using ceramic pre-ceramic resin and stereolithography.
The company is now introducing a new piece of hardware to the International Space Station (ISS) that will demonstrate an additive manufacturing process using lunar weathering simulants. This demonstration is essential to improve the ability of humans to use in-situ resources to permanently exist on the moon. This will be the first time the lunar weathering layer simulant has been used for 3D printing in space. The mission will currently be launched on Northrop Grumman’s 16th Commercial Replenishment Mission (NG-16) at 5:56 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, August 10, from NASA Wallops The Pad-0A at the mid-Atlantic spaceport of the flight facility launched on Wallops Island, Virginia.
Redwire Chief Technology Officer Michael Snyder (Michael Snyder) said: "At Redwire, we are developing multi-functional, autonomous manufacturing capabilities to maximize the use of on-site resources and achieve robust construction on the lunar surface." "Redwire The Regolith Print (RRP) mission is an important step in demonstrating these advanced manufacturing processes and ultimately accelerating NASA’s timetable for establishing a permanent human presence on the moon."
RRP is a technology demonstration mission developed in cooperation with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The mission will use Redwire's additive manufacturing facility currently on the International Space Station to demonstrate autonomous on-orbit 3D printing using weathered layer materials. Redwire will launch three custom-designed 3D print heads and three print bed surfaces on the NG-16 to support the on-orbit operation of RRP.
The goal of this mission is to successfully demonstrate the manufacturing process capability under microgravity (3D printing a simulated material full of weathered layers). After the printing operation is successful, the material sample will be returned to the earth for scientific analysis.
The RRP mission will advance NASA's efforts to develop key in-situ resource utilization capabilities for the Artemis program, and will help determine the feasibility of using resources available on the moon as raw materials for on-demand housing and other structures. The RRP technology ultimately aims to use local materials to manufacture infrastructure and mission hardware on the lunar surface, thereby reducing the launch quality of future Artemis missions. Construction applications include landing pads, foundations, roads, habitats, and habitat furniture.
This market research by 3dpbm Research provides an in-depth analysis and forecast of the ceramic additive market.
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