INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES IN SPACE MANUFACTURING FOR CONVERTING ASTEROIDAL MATERIALS INTO USEFUL CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS

摘要

The establishment of long-term space habitats our outposts represent a new frontier for manufacturing. Benefits of space-based industrial process include zero- or micro-gravity, a high-quality vacuum, an infinite heat sink (and high temperature gradients) and a limitless supply of high-energy particles. Previous experiments in US and Russian missions involved in easy-manufacturing experiments, as the future can be opened for further industrial exploration relying on the availability of resources and location of markets. This paper discusses industrial processes in space manufacturing and necessary technologies to develop a space-based manufacturing business reviewing the design process of Japanese asteroid sample return mission (MUSES-C) and possible future space-oriented markets connected with Near-Earth Object retrieval concepts.