Saving Weight and Space at Launch: Additive Manufacturing Goes Orbital

Image from NASA

Shrinking the launch bag with printing in orbit

On March 21 2025 NASA posted a feature titled “3D Printing: Saving Weight and Space at Launch” which described how additive manufacturing aboard the ISS is employed to reduce mass, volume and dependency on Earth-delivered spares.

By printing critical components in space, the mission planners can send fewer spare parts up front and manufacture tooling, structures, or replacement parts after arrival. The shift changes the economics and logistics of space missions significantly.

Materials science behind in-space printing

Some of the key challenges in materials science involve feedstock behavior in microgravity, heat dissipation without conventional convection, microstructural control of printed metals or polymers, and assurance that the printed parts meet the needed mechanical, thermal, and radiation-resistance performance requirements of the space habitat or hardware. The article highlights how different the printing environment is from Earth and how NASA is learning to build in that reality.