A spacecraft, spinning in Earth’s orbit, reaches inside itself. One of its four arms pulls out a length of polymer pipe that has been 3D-printed inside the body of the machines. All four of the spacecraft’s arms are securing pieces together as it builds a new space station right there in orbit.

This surreal project, called Archinaut, is the future vision of space manufacturing company Made In Space. The company promises a future of large imaging arrays, kilometer-scale communications tools, and big space stations all built off-planet by smart robots.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

In Made in Space’s vision, the four-armed cutting-edge meld of a robot and a spacecraft is smart enough to work on its own, without a human dictating every motion from a desk. The ability to make equipment from raw materials means easier logistics, especially when making large structures that cannot fit easily into a rocket nosecone.

“What this means is we can now build larger and bigger structures that can deliver greater capabilities at a much lower cost and with less risk,” says MIS CEO Andrew Rush.

NASA is intrigued, and so there is a chance the clever robot might reach space. Late last month the company announced that the space agency had invited MIS to submit a proposal for a technology flight demonstration mission. “We’re preparing for an important thermal vacuum chamber test of the entire manufacturing and assembly system this summer,” says Eric Joyce, project manager of the program for MIS.

The era of automation in space is just beginning.

Share the Air

Smart robots building space stations in orbit may be in the future, but there are plenty of other examples of how smart robots and automation are becoming critical to the future of spaceflight.

The nation’s busiest launch centers in Florida and California are expecting exponential increases in launch tempo as communications companies loft constellations of small satellites and new generations of air-launched rockets and spaceplanes come of age.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This steady increase of space launches is about revolutionize Cape Canaveral, but there’s one place where it’s prompting hair-pulling and hyperventilation: the Federal Aviation Authority. FAA manages America’s airspace, and airplanes must be rerouted to avoid space launch or reentry operations. Currently, plotting the closures is done manually. It’s a lot to account for, and all this can cause mistakes and delays.

The FAA sees automation as a critical tool in navigating a future with more launches. Such an automated system would automatically determine and carve out the appropriate airspace, and transmit that to the community of air traffic controllers. It would be as easy as filing a flight plan.

An FAA test of such a system has already occurred in Florida in 2016; officials claimed “extremely positive results.” Now the FAA is seeking funding to expand the system. Things are progressing behind the scenes, and in March the FAA solicited input from expert sources about “existing and emerging technology” that could deal with all this data.

Better Than a Human?

Automation will streamline other parts of spaceflight. Weather monitoring systems are becoming more automated, for example. But there are other, very wonky areas where efficiency is needed.

In February, 2017 SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft destined for the International Space Station. Behind the scenes, the launch served as a debut of an automated flight safety system, the first time a computer controlled the primary flight safety system.

Keeping a launch safe during liftoff is a matter of protecting the range and the public from a rocket’s wrath. Typically, a mission flight control officer will watch the launch and hit the self-destruct button if the radar indicates the rocket is going off course.

The AFSS built by SpaceX automates that process, using GPS and telemetry information to make sure the rocket has not crossed its red lines. Onboard computers, rather than a signal from the ground, trigger the self-destruct. This reduced the cost of ground systems and much of the radar needed to track a flight. Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, commander of the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing called the tech a “game-changer” and insulted MFCOs everywhere by declaring the system “actually safer than having an individual in the loop.”

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io