CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — What is being billed as the most exciting phase of a space manufacturing project called Mission Illinois is set to kick off this month. The project is currently gearing up to send a specialized construction apparatus to the International Space Station to demonstrate space-based or on-orbit manufacturing during the summer of 2026. The mission is backed by four and a half years of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded research in space materials, manufacturing and structural design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“The goal of this project is to test an energy-efficient chemical process that transforms a liquid material into a solid material — known as curing — to enable on-orbit manufacturing and construction of large space structures such as new space telescopes, radio frequency antennas and other sensors with high-dimensional and mechanical precision and mass efficiency over massive sizes, some more than 300 meters in diameter,” said mechanical science and engineering professor Sameh Tawfick, who is leading the project. “We manufacture carbon fiber composite tubes that can then be assembled into space trusses on-demand, rapidly and with minimal energy use.”
The multiphase study, now entering phase 3, is part of DARPA’s Novel Orbital Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass Efficient Design program initiated in 2021. The Illinois-led portion of the NOM4D project builds off Illinois’ extensive experience in composite materials design by Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology researchers Jeff Baur, Philippe Geubelle, Jeff Moore and Nancy Sottos, who are all part of the current study.
The Phase 3 DARPA award to Illinois brings the total to $4.7 million to support the development for Mission Illinois.
“The material curing process we are using is well tested and understood here on Earth, and the challenge will be to see if we can manufacture it on-orbit — in microgravity, radiation, vacuum and all of the complex conditions in the space environment,” Tawfick said.
The team has 18 months to complete this mission, with the last six months being dedicated to sending the apparatus into space, connecting it to a small module outside of the International Space Station and then having astronauts perform the experiments.
“This will be the first demonstration of manufacturing in space,” Tawfick said. “Realizing such structures will enable the next stage in humanity’s space utilization and a future beyond our imagination.”
Editor’s note:
To reach Sameh Tawfick, call 244-6303; email tawfick@illinois.edu. The formal name of DARPA’s Mission Illinois is “Rapid Extrusion of Composite Mega-Structure for Space.” Mechanical science and engineering is part of The Grainger College of Engineering.
