On-orbit thermal extractions of raw materials from space debris in support of additive manufacturing of new space elements on-orbit

A system for manufacturing a space-based component, said system being in orbit around the Earth, said system comprising:

• a spacecraft body;
• a parabolic dish mounted to the spacecraft body for collecting solar energy from the sun and focusing the solar energy as a focused beam;
• a manipulator having a first end mounted to the spacecraft body;
• a solar refinery mounted to a second end of the manipulator, said manipulator being operable to position the solar refinery relative to the focused beam, said solar refinery including a shaped crucible having a design that allows the crucible to open and collect space debris directly from space, said crucible being heated by heat provided by the focused beam where the manipulator positions the crucible at different locations or the collector is pointed or off-pointed from the sun to heat different constituent elements in the space debris, said solar refinery including a collection element being capable of separately collecting the constituent elements in the space debris;
• and
• a fabrication module coupled to the spacecraft body or flying in formation with it and being operable to obtain solid, molten or vaporized elements from the collection element and fabricate the space-based component therefrom.