Key facts
- Orbital Matter said Replicator-2 printed a half-meter beam by extruding resin coils cured with ultraviolet light.
- One of the two printers meant to deploy a flexible solar array failed after an anomaly, the company said.
- Orbital Matter's engineers believe 100-meter booms are feasible, limited by the resin carried onboard.
- Orbital Matter is preparing a demonstration mission for launch in 2028 to test a larger printer on a bigger satellite.
- Orbital Matter said it is partnering with the European Space Agency and Thales Alenia on Replicator-2.
Orbital Matter, a German startup, said its Replicator-2 satellite 3D printed a half-meter rigid beam in the vacuum of space, which executives described as a first for a free-flying spacecraft and a step toward building large structures in orbit. The company announced the result on November 3, 2026.
The satellite launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission in summer 2026 carrying four of the company's 3D printers. Each printer forms a rigid cylindrical beam by extruding coils of resin cured with ultraviolet light, a process the company compares to cement and water.
Two of the printers were designed to deploy a flexible solar array, but an anomaly caused one to fail, the company said. The beam that was produced successfully deployed the solar array, which Orbital Matter called an important proof of concept. Earlier 3D printing in microgravity was confined to the pressurized environment of the International Space Station, according to the report.
"Replicator 2 is the first proof that we can simply build the array in space, at whatever size the mission demands," CEO and co-founder Jakub Stojek said. CTO Robert Ihnatisin told TechCrunch that the company put several printers on one satellite to learn in orbit and adapt software rather than spend years testing every possibility on the ground.
The boom's length is limited by the resin carried onboard, and the company's engineers believe 100-meter booms are feasible. For comparison, the report said SpaceX's Starlink V2 satellites use solar arrays 20 meters long. Orbital Matter, co-founded in 2022 by Ihnatisin and Stojek, has raised a $3 million seed round and is partnering with the European Space Agency and satellite builder Thales Alenia.
Orbital Matter is working on a demonstration mission scheduled for launch in 2028 that will test a larger printer on a bigger satellite, aiming to deploy a solar array generating 5 kW of power. The company described that as a stepping stone toward deployments of more than 100 kW per wing by 2030, and said satellite builders are considering its printer-assisted deployment system for extending solar panels and antennas.