NASA Turns to 3D Printing for Self-Building Spacecraft (via @Intercrastina )

Spacecraft could build themselves or huge space telescopes someday by scavenging materials from space junk or asteroids. That wild vision stems from a modest proposal to use 3D printing technology aboard a tiny satellite to create a much larger structure in space.

The "SpiderFab" project received $100,000 from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program to hammer out a design and figure out whether spacecraft self-construction makes business sense. Practical planning and additional funding could lead to the launch of a 3D-printing test mission within several years.

http://www.space.com/17577-nasa-spacecraft-3d-printing.html

Currently, launching mass of space systems into space requires high engineering cost - you need to make sure all physically large components to be designed to stow for launch and then reliably deploy on orbit. And, to ensure all things fit inside the rocket there's a limit on sizes of parts.

Tethers Unlimited is going to develop a process for automated on-orbit construction of very large structures and multifunctional components.

This process is called 'SpiderFab' which uses automated processes and fused-deposition modeling to manufacture "very large, very high-strength-per-mass, lattice-like structures combining both compressive and tensile elements. "

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20120913-nasa-awards-funding-for-automated-on-orbit-construction-with-3d-printers.html