Space Manufacturing

Manufacturing for space is a rapidly growing industry in Australia with unique problems that require innovative solutions; from designing new materials to developing off-planet fabrication and repair techniques.

Manufacturing for space often requires the use of high performance materials and tightly controlled fabrication processes. This is because satellites and extra-terrestrial exploration vehicles need to endure extreme temperatures, unpredictable radiation events, high speed debris impacts and near perfect vacuums with little or no opportunity for repair. To meet this challenge, designers and manufacturers need innovative component, shielding and repair solutions that deliver sustainable performance in space without compromising vehicle weight/cost.

The Space Manufacturing program focuses on supporting regional fabricators to develop new materials and processing technologies to tackle the challenges of space.

Led by Jason Miller, the Space Manufacturing program is working with a range of industry partners, including Gilmour Space, to design and validate new materials and processes for space vehicle structures. With a focus on functional structures, the team is currently developing commercially relevant pathways to fabricate demonstrators including launch vehicle control surfaces and satellite panels.

Our research areas

Drawing from a strong research and manufacturing culture, this program is active across three key areas:

• Space Vehicle Shielding– developing new material systems and fabrication approaches to produce shields that minimise the impact of radiation, temperature extremes and collisions with debris
• Carbon Composites – advancing manufacturing and repair processes for Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer and Carbon-Carbon composite structures to deliver thermally stable components offering benefits across a range of aerospace vehicle platforms and with the potential to improve sustainability in a range of terrestrial applications
• Additive Manufacturing (AM) – validating AM repair processes and developing light weight, thermally protected structures for vehicle components that need to perform under temperature extremes.