By 
June 12th, 2017
OrbWeaver™ payload.
Credit: TUI/Firmamentum
On-the-spot construction of spacecraft high above Earth is getting a boost thanks to “OrbWeaver” – an in-space manufacturing and robotic assembly concept.
Firmamentum of Bothell, Washington announced today it has sealed a deal with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on the idea to fabricate a small satellite able to provide high-bandwidth satellite communications services to mobile receivers on the ground.
Secondary payload
Under the OrbWeaver Direct-to-Phase-II Small Business Innovation Research effort, Firmamentum aims to combine its technologies for in-space recycling, in-space manufacturing, and robotic assembly to create a system that could be launched as a secondary payload on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.
This system would recycle a structural element of that rocket — known as an EELV Secondary Payload Adapter ring — by converting the ring’s aluminum material into a very large, high-precision antenna reflector.
Unique capability
The OrbWeaver™ payload would then attach this large antenna to an array of radios launched with the OrbWeaver payload to create a small satellite capable of delivering up to 12 gigabits per second of data to K-band very small aperture terminals on the ground.
The OrbWeaver effort will combine several of the firm’s technologies “into a unique capability for rapidly and affordably fielding high-performance communications satellites,” said Rob Hoyt, Firmamentum’s CEO. “In the near term, this technology could enable the Defense Department to address critical needs,” he said, specifically for satellite communications resiliency.
Credit: TUI
In-space ecosystem
Firmamentum is a division of Tethers Unlimited, Inc. established to develop an “ecosystem” of in-space manufacturing and construction services to build the infrastructure needed for a robust in-space economy.
The innovative company is now preparing flight demonstrations of in-space recycling as well as in-space manufacturing of satellite components.
For more information on this and other technologies in the TUI/Firmamentum toolkit, go to:
Posted in Space News
