Technical Papers

Building Blocks of a Robust Economy in Earth's Orbit: the Machinery of Commercialization

Abstract

Materials power key technological advancements in areas such as communications, consumer electronics, aerospace, automotive and energy. Silica has become the status quo because of its abundance and affordability. Advances in areas such as quantum computing, AI and IoT will require new materials with performance envelope beyond the traditional (i.e. global interne data is rapidly growing beyond petabytes/s/km). A long-time competitor to silica, heavy metal fluoride glasses represent an attractive candidate due to their optical transmission window that extends deep into the infrared (IR) and recently also in the UV (200nm-800nm). Although ZBLAN was the early frontrunner for 2.5pm transatlantic links with no repeaters, silica won the race in the 1980’s, due to the development of repeaters at 1.5pm. Today this reliance on silica is hurting the industry by forcing retrofitting of new applications. It is becoming clear that the demands of the next generation of communications cannot be solved with additional investments in a silica-based infrastructure. Silica has now maxed out also its affordability not just its signal transmission capacity. An equivalent…

Exotic Optical Fibers and Glasses:
Innovative Material Processing Opportunities in Earth's Orbit

Abstract

Exotic optical fibers and glasses are the platform material for photonics applications, primarily due to their superior signal transmission (speed, low attenuation), with extending bandwidth deep into the infrared, exceeding that of silica fibers. Gravitational effects (convection sedimentation) have a direct impact on the phase diagram of these materials and influence melting properties, crystallization temperatures, and viscosity of the elemental mix during the manufacturing process.Such factors constitute limits to the yield, transmission quality, and strength and value of these fibers; they also constrain the range of applications. Manufacturing in a gravity-free environment such as the Earth’s Orbit also helps with other aspects of the fabrication process (i.e., improved form factor of the manufacturing unit, sustainability). In this article, revolutionary developments in the field of photonics over the past decade merge with the paradigm shift in the privatization of government-owned capabilities supporting a more diverse infrastructure (parabolic, suborbital, orbital), reduced price, and increased frequency to access space and the microgravity environment…

Breaking the Silica Ceiling: ZBLAN-based Opportunities for Photonics Applications

Abstract

Economy is a term referring to the set of interrelated production and consumption activities relying on a careful management of available resources. The space resources upon which a robust economy in Earth’s orbit can be created are: extremes in temperature, ultra-high vacuum, perpetually available solar power, reduced gravity, data, and remote sensing. Three pillars: technical, economic and policy, with their corresponding responsibilities and ethics will be discussed. Several concepts – from allowing incorporation in Earth’s orbit (.leo) to creating a currency from mining solar powered data centers as well as encouraging future growth through standardization and smart use of “touch of space” branding will be proposed. Discussion will also focus on the types of approaches (new insights, processing and reprocessing in space, manufacturing and assembly) that could be used to return the value of space to Earth for economic growth and public benefit. Lessons learned from past commercialization efforts will be reviewed. Traditionally results have been categorized based on fundamental scientific or engineering disciplines; an approach that is effective at highlighting research in a given field. However, it often results in discipline level stove-piping which is counterproductive to commercialization…

Microgravity for Economic Growth
and Public Benefit

Abstract

Two major objectives were foundational to President Obama’s recent decision to extend operation of the International Space Station (ISS) to 2024`: enable a broader flow of societal benefits from microgravity research on the ISS; and allow more time for NASA to fully transition the transportation to low-Earth-orbit to the commercial space industry. These objectives are intrinsically related. The recent successes achieved by the Commercial Orbital Transportation Program (COTS) Program offer new opportunities for affordable commercial Microgravity Research, which in turn helps fuel a new market sector for emerging companies such as SpaceX, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Nanoracks and XCor The potential breadth of commercial opportunities in microgravity is huge, with applications ranging from fiber optics, device-grade semiconductor crystals, space beads, new materials, cells microencapsulation, protein crystals, perfume and hair care. The knowledge gained from creating new “end states” of systems obtained in microgravity has been translated into unique technologies and business opportunities on Earth. In some instances existing flight qualified hardware is immediately available for commercial R&D for small-scale in-space manufacturingt. Overall, products manufactured in microgravity have key properties usually surpassing the best terrestrial counterparts. Commercially, these products have an attractive “touch of space” which aids in marketing.