Orbital Matter printed its first rigid beam in the vacuum of space, TechCrunch reports

A beam made in orbit

Orbital Matter’s Replicator-2 satellite printed a half-meter beam from custom plastic material. The German startup calls the achievement a first for a free-flying spacecraft in orbit. Launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission this summer, the small satellite carried four printers. Each extrudes resin coils that ultraviolet light cures into rigid cylindrical beams; the company compares the process to cement and water.

CEO and co-founder Jakub Stojek said the flight showed the company could build an array in space at a size suited to a mission. Orbital Matter developed Replicator-2 in collaboration with the European Space Agency and satellite builder Thales Alenia.

Why build beyond Earth

Future spacecraft, including potential orbital data centers, will need more electrical power and greater capacity to release heat into space. Yet their components must fit within the rocket fairing during launch.

Building equipment in orbit could help address those constraints. Many large structures today, including solar arrays and telescope mirrors, are folded for launch and then deployed, a process that presents engineering challenges.

Printer test and next steps

Two of Orbital Matter’s printers were intended to deploy a flexible solar array, but an anomaly caused one to fail. The boom that was made did deploy the array, providing a proof of concept.

Orbital Matter says the beam’s length is limited by the resin onboard. Its engineers believe 100-meter booms are feasible; SpaceX’s Starlink V2 satellites use solar arrays 20 meters long.

The company plans another demonstration, scheduled for launch in 2028, with a larger printer on a bigger satellite. It hopes to deploy a solar array capable of generating 5 kilowatts, as a step toward deployments of more than 100 kilowatts per wing by 2030.

Partnerships and company background

Orbital Matter is working with satellite builders considering its printer-assisted deployment system, or PADS, to extend solar panels, antennas and other components. The company was co-founded in 2022 by CTO Robert Ihnatsin, who previously worked at 3D-printing company FormLabs, and Stojek. It raised a $3 million seed round. Ihnatsin told TechCrunch the company put several printers on one satellite so it could learn in orbit and adapt its software rather than spend years testing every possibility on the ground.