Orbital Matter says its Replicator 2 satellite has 3D-printed a rigid, half-meter-long beam in orbit, a first for a free-flying spacecraft, according to the company. The German startup sees the demonstration as a step toward building larger structures in space, including equipment for future orbital data centers.

Launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission this summer, Replicator 2 carries four printers. They produce cylindrical beams by extruding coils of custom resin and curing them with ultraviolet light. The amount of resin aboard the satellite limited the beam’s length, but the company’s engineers believe the technology could eventually support booms up to 100 meters long.

Building structures in orbit could help spacecraft overcome the constraints of rocket fairings, which limit the size of equipment that can be launched. Larger power systems and heat radiators may be needed for orbital data centers, and assembling components in space could make those systems easier to deploy.

“Replicator 2 is the first proof that we can simply build the array in space, at whatever size the mission demands,” said Orbital Matter CEO and co-founder Jakub Stojek. The company developed the mission with the European Space Agency and satellite builder Thales Alenia.

Two of the satellite’s printers were designed to deploy a flexible solar array. One printer failed after an anomaly, but the boom produced by the other successfully deployed the array. Orbital Matter CTO Robert Ihnatisin told TechCrunch that the company put several printers on the satellite so it could learn in orbit and adjust its software, rather than spend years testing every possibility on the ground.

The demonstration follows earlier experiments in space-based 3D printing that took place in the pressurized environment of the International Space Station. NASA also funded a 2023 effort by Redwire to print structural beams in a vacuum chamber, but that mission did not launch.

Orbital Matter is planning another demonstration for 2028. It aims to test a larger printer on a bigger satellite and deploy a solar array capable of generating 5 kilowatts of power. The company describes that mission as a step toward deployments exceeding 100 kilowatts per wing by 2030. It is also working with satellite builders exploring the use of its printer-assisted deployment system for solar panels, antennas and other components.

Sources: TechCrunch.