The Industrial Science Report: Space-based and spacecraft manufacturing advance materials and process science

UConn and Voyager expand space research and commercialization hub

If in-space manufacturing seems far-fetched, the University of Connecticut and Voyager Technologies don’t think so. Their research hub will focus first on the commercialization of metamaterials, microgravity, and the quantum technologies needed for space travel and infrastructure building. Voyager Technologies is a manufacturer of products and components for space missions and ground, air, and space defense and national security efforts. Voyager Technologies also has a similar partnership the University of North Dakota, and the anchor hub for the initiative sits at The Ohio State University.

For maintenance and reliability engineers, the work around advanced composites and metamaterials beckon a future where material behavior, degradation, and inspection methods could change dramatically. Not to mention, future interstellar employment opportunities. Just as important, the commercialization focus means these space-validated materials and processes are likely to flow back into Earth-bound aerospace, defense, and high-reliability industrial manufacturing.

The University of Connecticut (UConn) and Voyager Technologies have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a regional Voyager Institute for Science, Technology and Advancement (VISTA) hub in Connecticut. The hub will accelerate in-space research and manufacturing. The collaboration will prioritize commercialization efforts in metamaterials, microgravity, and quantum technologies, with initial work in photonics, quantum sensing, and advanced composite materials. The hub will leverage expertise from UConn’s Institute of Materials Science, College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Computing, and UConn Health. UConn’s School of Business and Technology Commercialization Services will support translating the research into commercial ventures, and Voyager plans to sponsor industry-linked student experiential learning projects. The partnership builds on UConn’s existing aerospace/defense sector relationships with Pratt & Whitney, Electric Boat, Sikorsky. 

Space Forge produces crystals for semiconductor manufacturing in orbit 

Even the cleanest and most efficient fabs on Earth can still introduce defects and impurities to the final product. Scientists are working hard to improve semiconductor production processes and materials here on Earth, but what if there was a better environment for fabs altogether? Aerospace manufacturer Space Forge thinks the place might be in orbit, where space offers microgravity and a lack of convection, ultra-high quality vacuums with near-zero nitrogen contamination, and stable thermal conditions. All this can potentially produce semiconductor crystals several orders of magnitude cleaner, than those bound to Earth.

For maintenance and reliability engineers, ultra-wide bandgap materials grown in microgravity could deliver power electronics with higher thermal tolerance, lower defect rates, and longer service life, reducing failure modes in high-stress industrial, aerospace, and energy systems. 

Aerospace manufacturer Space Forge announced that its ForgeStar®-1 satellite successfully generated plasma in low Earth orbit (LEO), demonstrating that producing high-performance semiconductor materials could be done in extreme conditions in orbit. The experiments show that gas-phase crystal growth, a core building block of semiconductor production, can be created and controlled on an autonomous satellite. The free-flying commercial semiconductor manufacturing tool broadens the potential for producing wide- and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor materials (e.g., gallium nitride, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, diamond) in orbit. Those materials underpin power electronics, communications, quantum systems, defense, and high-performance computing technology. Development of these materials here on Earth is often plagued by defects, impurities, and thermal instability. The continued mission will collect data on plasma behavior in microgravity to inform future material production designs, and the company envisions combining orbital crystal growth with terrestrial processing via the Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM). They will grow crystals in space and return them to Earth for processing at CISM. The project includes a controlled satellite end-of-life demise, a first test of safe satellite re-entry, and points toward hybrid manufacturing models that could significantly improve semiconductor quality beyond Earth-based methods. 

Chinese Academy of Sciences advances metal additive manufacturing in microgravity

Manufacturers hope their production lines never have to wait for a desperately needed part, but some supply chains continue to struggle under geopolitical, economic, and post-COVID hiccups. Imagine waiting for a replacement part that has to travel from Earth into orbit. That’s a whole new supply chain. The concept may sound futuristic, but it reflects a familiar manufacturing principle: if the supply chain can’t deliver parts reliably, the factory eventually moves closer to the point of use. Realistically, in-space manufacturing isn’t a reality without the ability to repair or fabricate components on-site, so scientists are looking for ways to bring additive manufacturing into space. 

Aboard the PH-1 Yao-1 rocket developed by Chinese commercial aerospace company CAS Space, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences performed additive manufacturing experiments in microgravity during a suborbital flight. The rocket can ascend to 120 kilometers above sea level for 300 seconds. After the experiment, the payload capsule lands via a parachute system, and researchers recover the space-manufactured metal parts, as well datasets and performance parameters from the part manufacturing.

In addition to serving future space exploration, lessons from this work are likely to feed back into terrestrial additive manufacturing by improving process monitoring, defect control, and repeatability for high-consequence parts.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Mechanics successfully conducted China’s first space-based laser wire-fed metal additive manufacturing experiment under microgravity during a suborbital flight aboard the “PH-1” Yao-1 rocket developed by CAS Space. The experiment achieved critical technological breakthroughs in metal formation control, closed-loop monitoring, and payload-rocket coordination, producing metal components with high precision and recovering full datasets for analysis. This demonstration transitions China’s space metal manufacturing from ground-based verification to in-space engineering verification. On-orbit manufacturing and autonomous repair of spacecraft components could enhance deep-space exploration, space station operations, and lunar base construction. The mission also lays the foundation for future orbital-level manufacturing spacecraft with up to one-year on-orbit duration and reusability for multiple missions, supporting aerospace manufacturing innovation and scientific experimentation in microgravity physics, space life sciences, and materials science. 

European Space Agency applies AI to rocket parts manufacturing

Aerospace manufacturers use the strongest materials and advanced processes to build the most reliable components. They are always pushing the boundaries of processes like shot peen forming and friction stir welding, used in spacecraft manufacturing for stronger structures that resist fatigue. And like every industry, they’re using artificial intelligence to improve these processes even more. The European Space Agency project is also using AI to explore better and lighter materials by optimizing automated fiber placement for carbon-fiber reinforced plastics. A new laser sensor technology, powered by machine learning models, can detect and classify defects in real-time.

In shot peen forming, metal is shot with small balls to bend it into shape for rocket fuel tanks. This is done without heating, which makes it more resistant to fatigue. The high speed impact of each ball is unpredictable, but machine learning can help predict how the metal will deform next, making the process more precise.

Once a metal part is formed, it likely needs to be joined to other parts, which is where friction stir-welding replaces traditional arc welding, to make stronger structures. Friction stir welding heats up metals by rotating a pin over the welding area at high speeds. The friction stirs the materials together.

These methods won’t stay in rockets alone; they’re highly transferable to any high-value manufacturing environment where tolerances, weld integrity, and composite quality determine uptime and safety.

The European Space Agency (ESA), through its Future Launchers Preparatory Program (FLPP), is implementing artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve rocket and spacecraft component manufacturing. In collaboration with MT Aerospace in Germany, AI is being used to optimize shot peen forming to predict how metal will deform to achieve precise tolerances for fuel tank domes. The work will also enhance friction stir welding to reduce weld analysis time by 95% while improving structural strength. ESA is also applying AI to automated fiber placement for carbon-fiber reinforced plastics. Defect detection in real time will accelerate the production of lighter, stronger rocket tanks. These initiatives target aerospace manufacturing efficiencies, process precision, and design innovation for future space transportation systems. 

University of Florida and NASA explore biomanufacturing to repurpose space mission waste

Missions to space produce enormous amounts of waste, left floating through the solar system. If we plan to explore, excavate, or even inhabit outer space, we should be as concerned about waste and sustainability there, as we are about littering here on Earth. So scientists are considering how to design recyclability into space missions by designing materials that turn typical space mission waste into future resources.

“Hardware and packaging would shift toward materials with known breakdown pathways, such as hydrolysable polyesters, and away from multilayer laminates or heavily coated composites. Manufacturers would be incentivized to limit additives that interfere with recycling, standardize across a narrow set of material families, and engineer logistics packaging for dual use, first as protective containers, later as feedstock for conversion systems,” says Nils Averesch, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and cell science and member of the University of Florida Astraeus Space Institute.

Back on Earth, the same principles could also reshape industrial sustainability by closing material loops, reducing spare-parts inventories, and enabling resilient manufacturing in remote or resource-constrained environments.

Averesch explains: “Which waste streams are most valuable depends strongly on how clean and concentrated they are, as well as how easily they can be processed.” While crew-generated carbon dioxide and food residues are “chemically simple or already segregated,” plastics represent “the largest potential carbon reservoir.” Yet, virtually all current packaging design is non-biodegradable, he adds.

“This is exactly where systems (re)design can make a difference, by adopting materials that are amenable to robust conversion technologies. Designing around these loops would push spacecraft and habitats toward segregating waste at the source, minimizing chemically complex composites, and favoring single-material or biologically convertible packaging,” Averesch says. Packaging and hardware designed for recyclability would also enable material tracking and automated sorting.

While developed for deep-space exploration, these principles extend directly to terrestrial industries under decarbonization and disposal pressure, including plastics and packaging, chemicals, remote industrial operations, and food processing.

“These waste-to-resource strategies translate directly to Earth-based sectors facing disposal costs and decarbonization pressures. Plastics and packaging manufacturers could adopt biological upcycling routes for polyester waste streams that are difficult to recycle mechanically. Chemical producers could use waste- or carbon-fed bioprocesses to reduce fossil inputs,” Averesch says. “Space simply provides an extreme proving ground for circular-manufacturing concepts that are broadly applicable on Earth.”

Researchers at the University of Florida (UF), through the Astraeus Space Institute, are collaborating with NASA’s Deep Space Logistics (DSL) team to develop biomanufacturing techniques to break down and repurpose space mission waste such as mixed plastics, nylon, and foam. Using cells and enzymes, the research aims to convert cargo packaging waste into useful resources. Further, the project hopes to align with real waste streams and mission timelines to advance integrated, flight-relevant biomanufacturing platforms rather than standalone proof-of-concept studies. The work has potential implications for sustainability and resource efficiency in deep space exploration logistics and future in-space manufacturing and resource recovery for long-duration missions. Partners include the Florida University Space Research Consortium, which facilitated connection to NASA, and supports broader opportunities for academic–industry research advancing aerospace manufacturing and logistics support.