A Suborbital Laser Beam Welding Flight Experiment

Project Objective

Advancing laser beam welding towards a suborbital flight demonstration will help develop it as a mature process for In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM).

Project Description

Development of in-space welding is a key and enabling manufacturing technology because welding is involved in producing many durable goods on Earth. To achieve NASA's space sustainability goals and work toward an Earth-independent presence in space, processes instrumental to ground-based manufacturing and repair, such as welding, must be matured for use in space. This will create agility with respect to critical repairs and allow NASA to envision larger and more robust infrastructure in space and on non-terrestrial bodies. Much work needs to be done to deploy welding capabilities in space since NASA has not made a weld in space in 50 years. To this end, the environmental conditions and their impact on welding processes must be analyzed through progressive testing from ground-based environmental simulations (e.g., thermal vacuum chambers, computational modeling, etc.), parabolic and suborbital flights, and tests in the true application environment (e.g., orbital, Lunar, Martian, etc.).

Ground-based welding of aerospace hardware requires an Edisonian trial-and-error approach involving a significant number of weld trials and test specimens to qualify a welding process. This approach directly inhibits the infusion of welding processes for use in space. To address this challenge, this project is developing a laser beam welding flight hardware unit ready to deploy on a future suborbital flight. The flight will enable strategic and gap-closing goals by conducting experiments in space environments that test and mature a laser welding system and produce data-driven computational modeling tools. Models will elucidate relevant physics that have not been captured during laser welding and processing in these environments: 1) reduced gravity, 2) reduced pressure, and 3) extreme temperature. Collected data from advanced in situ instrumentation will feed Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) tools to reduce the burden of in-space weld development by establishing a link between space and terrestrial environments, ultimately reducing the number of in-space development welds that are necessary to qualify a welding procedure for use in space. Numerous partnerships and collaborations now exist in the In-Space Laser Manufacturing (ISLM) ecosystem at NASA Marshall, including internal collaborations with NASA Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) applying their expertise on the fundamentals of alloy solidification in processes like welding and the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Early Career Initiative program to develop autonomous robotic laser welding in a thermal vacuum environment, external collaborations such as a laser beam welding parabolic flight experiment under a Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) with The Ohio State University (OSU), and external partners such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Novel Orbital Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass Efficient Design (NOM4D) program to support development of similar ISAM technologies like laser forming.

Project Results and Conclusions

In this first phase of the effort, the appropriate equipment was identified and procured. This began by engaging NASA Marshall's Advanced Concepts Office (ACO), which prepared a Level 0 concept interoperable with multiple suborbital flight platforms, respecting their size, weight, and power (SWaP) limits. The laser generator, focusing optics/weld head, weld & thermal cameras, and laser beam diagnostic equipment were concurrently procured after this study. A team with the NASA Marshall Space Systems Department translated the ACO concept into a prototype design and began fabrication. By the end of FY24, this prototype unit had demonstrated its suitability as a low-leakage vacuum chamber with mechanical passthroughs to translate the sample stage and optical passthroughs to allow laser beam welding. Initial specimens of stainless steel were successfully autogenously spot welded and cut using this laser-based In-Space Manufacturing prototype while under vacuum. Work is now progressing to mature the prototype into a protoflight unit with automation and remote control. In addition, the data being collected for welding parameter development is being linked to computational models that will build up a suitable database and understanding of the laser beam welding process in space-relevant conditions.

Simultaneously, a proposal for manifesting the flight experiment was developed and presented to multiple interested parties within the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Laser beam welding technologies and science improved by this project will benefit in-space manufacturing, long-term sustainability, and the space economy. Laser beam welding can provide hermetically sealed tubing and vessels for life support systems, allow re-use of metal components from disused and spare spacecraft, construct large structures in space or on extra-terrestrial surfaces, repair habitats or other critical infrastructure, and more. The high quality datasets from this suborbital flight experiment can anchor computational models and Digital Twins of high energy density welding and allied processes, improving our ability to predict weld properties & performance, thus accelerating the infusion of advanced welding processes into terrestrial manufacturing.

Alignment:

This project aligns with goals stated in the Envisioned Future Priorities for Advanced Manufacturing and In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing under the Space Technology Mission Directorate. Additionally, this project directly addresses STMD shortfalls 1486 and 1487.

Shortfall 1487 “In Space and On Surface Welding Technologies for Manufacturing” will be partially closed by this effort. This effort will also contribute to the development of databases and computational models from collected experimental datasets of weld bead morphology, thermography, and thermal responses that will contribute to the closure of Shortfall 1486 “In Space and On Surface NDE and Qualification of Components."

STMD shortfalls that may benefit from the technologies developed in this project include but are not limited to:

513: Robotic Assembly and Construction of Modular Systems for Sustained In-Space Infrastructure

755: Cross-Discipline Cryogenic Fluid Management Technologies

879: In-space and On-surface, Long-duration Storage of Cryogenic Propellant

1523: Earth Independent Human Operations within Habitat Elements

1612: Surface-based fluid management for near/mid-term missions

Below is a list of NASA's Moon-to-Mars objectives that may also benefit from the development performed under this project:

LI-4: Lunar Surface Advanced Manufacturing and Construction

LI-8L: Cislunar Orbital/Surface Depots, Construction and Manufacturing

PPS-2: Understanding Physical Systems

AS-6: Understanding Environmental Effects

RT-5: Maintainability and Reuse

RT-6: Responsible Use and Behavior in Space

RT-9: Commerce and Space Development

OP-11: In-Space Resources to Reduce Mass

OP-12: Minimize the Disturbance to the Environment, Maximize Reuse/Recycling

TH-4: In-Space and Surface Habitation

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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