The conditions and technology for production in space are developing rapidly. Recently, NASA made a breakthrough when they managed to extract oxygen from carbon dioxide on the surface of Mars. At Chalmers University of Technology and Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden, there are lots of ongoing research activities related to production in space.
Tomorrow is International Star Wars Day, and Chalmers is hosting a seminar, with a focus on – appropriately enough – production in space.
The seminar will cover diverse topics including mass production of satellites of all sizes, vehicles with “massless energy storage” and plans for human settlement of Mars. There will also be opportunities to explore the varied research going on in space production at Chalmers, and what the conditions are for Sweden’s rapidly growing space industry.
Sweden is a prominent space nation, and Chalmers is an important part of that, with a wide range of space research in various disciplines. Two years ago was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, and it says it sees interest in space industry and research is continuing to grow. In addition, commercial deployment of space systems is expected to double in volume from 2020 to 2027, enabled by the emergence of inexpensive and re-usable rocket launchers. Mass production of satellites is a challenging new business and additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, will be an important technology for manufacturing in outer space.
Speakers at the event will include scientists from NASA, who have been involved in planning for Earth-independent production in space, as well as representatives from the Swedish National Space Agency, Chalmers University of Technology, and Luleå University of Technology.
Read the full program and register for the event here.
Where: Online seminar, streamed over Youtube and Zoom. Link will be sent out after registration.
When: 4 May 2021, 13.00-17.00 CEST/SAST
There will be a Q&A session after each presentation.