3D printers based on plastic have already appeared at the International Space Station, and in 2022 the European Space Agency (ESA) will send the first metal 3D printer, and it is planned that astronauts up there will produce a range of devices themselves (antennas, solar panels, screws, etc.)

Alexander Gerst, an ESA astronaut, says space-based production marks a new stage in the conquest of outer space. However, this requires special tools. ESA’s Manufacturing of Experimental Layer Technology (MELT) project printer can operate in all positions under weightlessness conditions and can use an extremely wide range of thermoplastics, from ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) used in LEGOs to extremely high melting point plastics such as PEEK (polyether ether ketone), which is already so strong and resistant that it can replace metal in some cases.

The International Space Station (source: ESA / NASA)

Currently the missing parts are still they can be sent to the International Space Station after the astronauts – but Mars expeditions can no longer be counted on. It is therefore vital that the right production tools are available to fill the gaps: researchers and Astronauts from the International Space Station are therefore working hard to develop and test 3D printers so that astronauts have reliable, tried-and-tested designs for what they really need.

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