14 DAY TRIAL // With all the excitement surrounding the Zero-G 3D printer currently at work up in orbit, on the International Space Station, one might be excused for forgetting that being able to print plastic tools and figurines isn't the same as building a vehicle or ship.
Getting a 3D printer into space was a great achievement, but also the first in what will definitely be a long, long road of R&D.
However, now we have reason to believe that the beginnings of orbital construction facilities, if not actual space shipyards, will be completed within our lifetime.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASTC for short, plans to send 3D printers capable of producing metal components on their future space missions.
Apparently, they want to get even with NASA for managing to shoot a printer into space first.
CASTC, the huge state-owned enterprise group behind brands like Shenzhou and Long March, has been around since 1956 in one form or another.
According to CASTC senior engineer Liang Feng, an SLM machine capable of outputting 8 square cm of metal parts per hour is being patented right now, and will be sent to space eventually.
Unfortunately, we don't have a time frame, so we can only hope that not too many years will pass before we see results.
