Manufacturing

man·u·fac·ture:  man(y)əˈfak(t)SHər/   noun

The making of products & components, on a large scale using advanced machinery.

Manufacturing machines, habitats and giant structures from space resources will open a new era in exploration and settlement of the solar system. No longer will every aspiration in space require a hugely expensive launch from the planets surface.

Manufacturing in microgravity (the technical term for “zero” gravity) and hard vacuum offers both opportunities and challenges. The upside of making things in space includes the ability to create very large structures that would never fit into the confines of a launch vehicle’s payload fairing. Huge solar arrays to produce energy and enormous antenna to enhance communications satellites are among the possibilities.