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The emerging in-space manufacturing economy

Diagram depicting the market sectors of the nascent in-space economy. Credits: Erik Kulu / Factories in Space

Erik Kulu, a Senior Systems Engineer in the satellite industry, has a passion for emerging technologies…especially those in the in-space manufacturing field. He’s created the largest public database of companies active in the emerging in-space economy. Called Factories in Space, it tracks companies engaged in microgravity services, space resources, in-space transport services, the economies of LEO, cislunar space, the Moon and much more.

Kulu provides an overview of commercial microgravity applications for both terrestrial and in-space use. His listing and analysis of potential business ventures provides a comprehensive summary of unique profitable commodities manufactured in microgravity, including fiber optics, medical products, exotic materials and many more.

Breakdown of the in-space manufacturing sector of the space economy. Credits: Erik Kulu / Factories in Space

“This is the missing piece to speed up development for the exciting Star Trek-like future. I believe in-space manufacturing will be the kickstarter and foundation.”

In a recent industry survey examining the commercial landscape of space resources in 2021, Kulu renders a statistical breakdown of the currently evolving development stages of in-space manufacturing companies, levels of funding by market sector, timing of company founding and geographical location of the main players. His analysis shows a marked increase in the formation of companies from 2016 – 2018 dropping off over the last 3 years.

Prominent founding peak of space resource companies in 2018 with drop at end of the last decade. Credits: Erik Kulu / Factories in Space

I asked Kulu about what he thought caused the downward taper because it seemed to have started before the COVID-19 pandemic, and so was probably unrelated. He agreed, and offers this explanation:

“Primarily, I think the decline is a mix of following:

  1. There was a boom of some sorts, which has slowed down in terms of very new startups. Similar graphs [indicate the same trend] for nanosatellite, constellation and launcher companies. Funding boom is continuing though.
  2. As many of those space fields do not have obvious markets, some potential new actors might be in wait mode, because they want to see what happens financially and technically to existing companies.
  3. Startups could be in stealth mode or very early stage and as such I have not become aware of them yet. They will likely partially backfill.”

“While there was a decline, I forecast Starship and return to the Moon will kick off another wave in about 2-3 years.”

Kulu also tracks NewSpace commercial satellite constellations, small satellite rocket launchers and NewSpace funding options through his sister site NewSpace Index. But he doesn’t stop there. The world’s largest catalog of nanosatellites containing over 3200 nanosats and CubeSats can be found in his Nanosats database.

Learn more about how Erik Kulu got started tracking the in-space economy in this interview from earlier this year over on Filling Space. And be sure and tune in live to The Space Show next month when I cohost with David Livingston for his debut appearance, exact date to be determined. You can call the show and ask Erik questions directly. Check TSS Newsletter, updated weekly, for the show date once its set. This post will be updated when the schedule is finalized, so readers can check back here as well.

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DARPA announces Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program

Artist’s concept of projects which could benefit from DARPA’s (NOM4D) plan for robust manufacturing in space. Credits: DARPA

Pronounced “NOMAD” the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plan aims to develop technologies for adaptive, off-earth manufacturing to fabricate large structures in space and on the Moon.

Bill Carter, program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office explains in an announcement of the program, “We will explore the unique advantages afforded by on-orbit manufacturing using advanced materials ferried from Earth. As an example, once we eliminate the need to survive launch, large structures such as antennas and solar panels can be substantially more weight efficient, and potentially much more precise. We will also explore the unique features of in-situ resources obtained from the moon’s surface as they apply to future defense missions. Manufacturing off-earth maximizes mass efficiency and at the same time could serve to enhance stability, agility, and adaptability for a variety of space systems.”

The program will be split into three 18 month phases driven by metrics associated with progressively challenging exemplars such as respectively, a 1-megawatt solar array, a 100m diameter RF reflector, and finally IR reflective structures suitable for use in a segmented long-wave infrared telescope.

Lessons learned from the program could be applied to on-orbit manufacturing operations by commercial space companies as launch costs come down and access to cislunar space becomes more routine for both government and commercial entities.