Making Tech Headlines · Page 9
Orbital Matter Prints a Beam, and Space Data Centers Acquire Their First Piece of Furniture
· New York time
Orbital Matter has 3D-printed a rigid beam in the vacuum of space, an in-space construction first that could help enable future orbital data centers. The achievement is a test of making a structural component in space rather than launching every piece in its final form. A beam is not a working data center. It is a much smaller step toward the possibility of building larger structures away from Earth, where launch and assembly impose unusual constraints. Any future orbital facility would still face questions about power, operations and access. The appeal is easy to see: a printer that can make useful structures in orbit could change how designers think about the size and shape of things sent into space. The comic leap is equally tempting. Technology has produced one rigid beam, and the imaginary real estate brochure already has room for a server farm with an excellent view.
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