Autonomous Bots To Build Products In Space

(SpaceNews, 15/11/2018)

Spacenews.com reports:

Space Tango, a Kentucky startup focused on research and manufacturing in microgravity, announced plans Nov. 15 to launch in the mid-2020s an autonomous in-orbit manufacturing facility.

The facility, called ST-42, will be a free-flying spacecraft sent into low Earth orbit with robotic systems onboard to produce advanced materials, biomedical devices and other high-value products. […]

Companies are likely to produce fiber-optics, carbon nanotubes and silicon wafers in ST-42, Clements said. Biomedical applications include retinal implants. Space Tango is working with LambdaVision, a Farmington, Connecticut, company preparing to test whether it can produce the implants, which may restore vision, in microgravity.

Source: Spacenews.com