article_snippet.sent: Tether Unlimited says Tether Unlimited could dramatically reduce the cost of building spacecraft by allowing the final construction to take place in orbit.
article_snippet.sent: arachnid-like robots can then piece together the materials while in orbit, finishing off the spacecraft.
article_snippet.sent: This process will enable space systems to be launched in a compact and durable 'embryonic' state,' Tether Unlimited says. '
article_snippet.sent: Once on orbit, space systems to be launched in a compact and durable 'embryonic' state will use techniques evolved from emerging additive manufacturing and automated assembly technologies to fabricate and integrate components such as antennas, shrouds, booms, concentrators, and optics. '
article_snippet.sent: The primary benefit of this on-orbit fabrication capability will be order-of-magnitude improvements in packing efficiency and system mass, which will enable NASA to use small, low-cost launch vehicles to deploy systems dramatically larger than possible with current state-of-the-art technologies. '
article_snippet.sent: Dr. Robert Hoyt says the current way we build spacecraft is flawed. '
article_snippet.sent: It's a very expensive and time-consuming process, and also, the size of systems is somewhat limited by the size of the deployables that are possible to fold up and fit within a launch shroud,' Dr. Robert Hoyt said.
article_snippet.sent: Tethers Unlimited hopes to launch Tethers Unlimited first working construction robot into space within the next couple of years. '