“This platform can be for manufacturing, human habitation, military applications, and whatnot.”
In-space manufacturing will form a massive part of the future of space exploration as it massively reduces the cost of launching otherwise fully-built structures to orbit and beyond.
ThinkOrbital is developing an orbital platform that could eventually be used to manufacture products in space and also tackle the growing space debris problem, as per aNot only that, one of its co-founders says it could be compatible with SpaceX's in-development fully reusableThinkOrbital actually submitted its design as a proposal for a NASA bid for new space station concepts last year. It lost out, however, with NASA awarding $415.6 million, Nanoracks, and Northrop Grumman.
The startup's platform, called ThinkPlatform, is envisioned as a non-pressurized, free-flying module that could dock with a space station or a spacecraft, such as SpaceX's Starship. Though it missed out on a lucrative NASA contract, ThinkOrbital did recently secureworth $260,000 under the U.S. Space Force Orbital Prime’s program for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing.
"This platform can be for manufacturing, human habitation, military applications, and whatnot," ThinkOrbital's co-founder and president Lee Rosen told SpaceNews in an interview. "And the good news is we don’t have to bend any physics to make it happen. In-space electron beam welding was demonstrated by the Soviets in the 80s, so we know it works."
The ThinkPlatform would, itself, be assembled in space using robotic arm technology. As Rosen pointed out, this technology already exists, though it would need to be upgraded so it can autonomously build the platform in space. "We want to do an inflight demo so we have the data ourselves. But we’re confident that it works," Rosen added.
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