German startup Orbital Matter has announced that its Replicator 2 satellite 3D-printed a rigid beam roughly half a meter long in the vacuum of orbit. According to IT Home and multiple international outlets, the company calls it the first time a free-flying spacecraft has manufactured a rigid structural element in the vacuum of space, a step toward building large structures in orbit. The news was disclosed by TechCrunch on November 3 and widely reported on November 4.
The compact Replicator 2 satellite launched this summer aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 Transporter-17 rideshare mission, carrying four 3D printers. The printers use photopolymer resin as feedstock, extruding it and curing with ultraviolet light to build continuous rigid booms in vacuum conditions. In addition to printing the beam, the mission conducted a solar-array deployment test.
On the technology path, Orbital Matter targets in-orbit manufacturing. Rather than launching pre-built large structures, in-space printing packs compact raw material into orbit and builds structures there, avoiding launch-fairing size constraints. The company previously collaborated with Thales Alenia Space on in-orbit-built antennas, using a 3D-printed rigid boom to support a deployable VHF antenna. The beam print is seen as a key validation node on that route.