Dictionary of Space Concepts

The concept of orbital manufacturing visualized by a primate building space mission components with blocks.

Source:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Common_Chimpanzee_uses_cuboid_tool_in_the_lab.png

https://cdn2.picryl.com/photo/2010/08/17/overall-exterior-views-of-the-iss-during-undocking-and-flyaround-operations-1bdbdf-1600.jpg

Short Definition:

Orbital manufacturing refers to the production of various components required for space missions in orbit.

Detailed Definition:

In orbital manufacturing, parts, materials, and tools needed for space missions are manufactured in orbit around planets. This manufacturing capability provides a solution for sustainable, flexible missions and enables on-demand repair, fabrication, and recycling on critical systems. These capabilities provide tangible cost savings by reducing launch mass, as well as significant risk mitigation by reducing dependence on spare parts and/or oversizing systems for reliability. 

There are several advantages of manufacturing in space:

The effects of microgravity and vacuum in space enable the study and manufacturing of products that would otherwise be impossible to make on Earth.

When compared to launching all essential resources from Earth, the harvest and processing of raw materials from other astronomical bodies, commonly known as In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU), could enable more sustainable space research missions at a lower cost.

Raw materials might be transferred to low Earth orbit and processed into products before being delivered back to Earth. This aims to preserve the Earth by replacing terrestrial production on the planet.

Etymology:

Orbit - Latin - orbita “course, track, impression, mark”

Manu - Latin - manus “Hand”

Facture – Latin - factura  “Making”

Sample Sentence(s):

“Was this arm made using orbital manufacturing?” 

“Orbital manufacturing is particularly suitable for long space missions.”

Translations:

• French: Fabrication Orbitale
  
• German: Orbitale Produktion
  
• Polish: Produkcja na orbicie
  
• Swedish: Orbital Tillverkning
  

Links to Videos/Articles:

https://www.nasa.gov/oem/inspacemanufacturing