Center for In-Space Manufacturing of Resilient Structures (SpaceMaRS)
Ioannis Chasiotis (AeroE)
Philippe Geubelle (AeroE)
Nancy Sottos (MatSE)
Xin Ning and Jeff Baur (AeroE)
Sameh Tawfick (MechSE)
Research Problem
Space manufacturing faces major and unique challenges that are not an issue for on-earth manufacturing, including supply chain, raw materials, transportation, energy demands, and environmental effects. In preliminary work funded by DARPA, members of this team are exploring a manufacturing platform based on frontal polymerization to fabricate a composite beam in space, Figure. Only a small amount of energy is required to trigger a self-propagating reaction front to fully cure the composite, making the manufacturing process 1,000 times faster and more energy efficient than existing ground-based technologies. This technology could lead to sustainable space and terrestrial manufacturing. These attributes, when combined with the low volume of required processing equipment as well as material formulations and structural design to withstand the environmental threats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), make this technology very promising for on-orbit manufacturing of lightweight composite structures.
SpaceMaRS Vision
The vision of the SpaceMaRS Center is to develop the fundamental knowledge, science, and technology for in-space manufacturing that will resolve major bottlenecks in manufacturing technologies while also developing novel materials that could withstand the harsh space environment. This team possesses key synergies in the areas of materials science, chemistry, synthesis, manufacturing and characterization under space conditions, which will support three key thrusts: (1) Materials Development, focusing on informed design of composite material formulations that could be manufactured efficiently in space leading to durable, AO-resistant materials; (2) Manufacturing Platform Development, focusing on novel methods for accurate and scalable manufacturing and assembly of large structures in space, and (3) Characterization and Modeling, focusing on reliability characterization of materials and structures developed through Thrusts 1 and 2, and multiphysics materials processing simulations to guide and optimize synthesis and fabrication in space.
Larger Impact
All of the aforementioned considerations for manufacturing and operation of structures in space call for an interdisciplinary team of scientists to provide new materials and structures solutions for the next generation of space vehicles that are expected to proliferate in LEO and the Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO), both of which could serve as the stepping stone for missions to Mars and beyond. This team has been working on aspects of critical technologies for space vehicles and has built major expertise and infrastructure at the University of Illinois. The proposed SpaceMaRS Center aims at coordinating our efforts and expand the visibility of the research activities of this team.