SpaceCAL (3D Printer)

2024: Product Announcement

In mid-July 2024, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley presented successful test results for the world's first microgravity 3D printer called SpaceCAL. The tests were carried out as part of the Virgin Galactic 07 mission, a crewed suborbital space flight that launched on June 8, 2024.

During a 140-second trial run, SpaceCAL 3D printed four items of liquid PEGDA plastic. These included models of space shuttles and small Benchys tugs, traditionally used as a benchmark for assessing printer quality and performance.

Space.com

SpaceCAL's terrestrial predecessor was developed by Hayden Taylor and colleagues at Berkeley in 2017. Scientists wanted to solve the problem of 3D printing to create complex elements in one step. Instead of constructing structures from the bottom up, SpaceCAL uses light to trigger the chemical curing of projected patterns on the photosensitive resin. The curing of the structure occurs as a result of a polymerization reaction in which chemical building blocks contained in the resin are combined under the action of light into a single polymer, which leads to the accurate and rapid formation of complex three-dimensional structures with high resolution.

Thanks to this tenology, SpaceCAL allows you to create complex details in just 20 seconds. The team also demonstrated the versatility of the system by successfully applying more than 60 different printing materials, including silicones, glass composites and various biomaterials. The printer's ability to operate efficiently under microgravity conditions makes SpaceCAL particularly promising for space flight applications. At the same time, the lack of gravity minimizes the problems associated with the flow and deposition of material, improves some properties of the material and can give designers greater freedom.^[1]

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