Ultra-Electrical-Efficient Process to Perform Regolith Additive Manufacturing of Complex Structures

Lunar Resources, America’s leading space industrial company and the corporate spin-out of NASA’s Wake Shield Facility (WSF) program propose to NASA a novel 3D printing system optimized for the lunar environment. The system is an innovative combination of unique mass control in an ultra-energy-efficient pulsed power printing head to perform direct additive manufacturing of lunar regolith without any reagents. Together this new technology enables additive manufacture of lunar structures from lunar regolith and in-situ derivative materials by printing from any direction to make structures with geometries and complexity not before possible on the Moon.

The innovation the team proposes to develop as part of this NASA SBIR Phase I effort includes bulk manufacturing of lunar regolith at low power input levels while expanding lunar manufacturing design options to complex geometries. Specific NASA applications including manufacturing large-scale complex structures from lunar regolith and derived materials bsuch as landing pads, habitats, roads, walls, shields, berms, and beams but

The proposed innovation can be utilized to produce commercial infrastructure on the Moon such as landing pads, bridges, buildings and other complex lunar surface structures. As well be modified for in-space additive manufacturing applications.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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