First Zero-G 3D Printer Is On Its Way To The Space Station

This 3D printer will be making parts on board the International Space Station (Credit: Made In Space)

On Tuesday morning, a SpaceX Dragon capsule will berth with the International Space Station. Included in its nearly 2 and a half tons of cargo is a first for the final frontier a 3D printer.

This 3D printer was developed by a small startup, Made In Space, which was founded in 2010 and incubated at Singularity University. Since 2011, the company has been actively working on development of their printer with NASA. The company has also received $824,597 in Small Business Innovation Research grants from NASA.

In 2013, NASA awarded Made In Space a Phase III Sole Source contract to build a 3D printer to send to the International Space Station the printer thats on its way to the station right now. The purpose of this printer is the demonstrate that 3D printing can work on board the station. If so, NASA intends to use its printer for experimental purpose with an eye to one day printing parts for the station on-demand.

As you might imagine, 3D printing poses some special challenges when you try to do it in zero gravity.

There are two main categories of problems, Brad Kohlenberg, a Business Development Engineer at the company told me. First is just making work. Second is making it safe in a closed loop environment.

The safety issue is the simple fact that when a 3D printer creates objects from its plastics, it will off-gas emitting toxic gasses into the local air. This isnt a problem on Earth, where doors, windows and HVAC systems allow those gases to diffuse safely. On the space station, however, the atmosphere is strictly controlled and this becomes a real problem.

To solve that problem, the company has developed an environmental control unit that filters out harmful gasses and nanoparticles produced during the printing process. Its so efficient, in fact, that the filter all by itself can purify a room on Earth.

Were actually in talks with other manufacturers about spinning that off, Kohlenberg told me. Doing crazy things that even if you fail to meet your goal, you could revolutionize another industry.

Made In Space tests its 3D printer on a microgravity parabolic flight.

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First Zero-G 3D Printer Is On Its Way To The Space Station