Systems and methods for manufacturing in space environments

A system for fabricating fibers in space, comprising:

• a containment vessel configured to contain feedstock materials obtained from an asteroid or lunar regolith;
• one or more optical components configured to collect solar energy from the Sun, concentrate the collected solar energy, and direct the concentrated solar energy to impinge upon a surface of the feedstock materials to melt the feedstock materials;
• and
• a piston configured to apply a pressure to the melted feedstock materials to extrude the melted feedstock materials through an orifice in the containment vessel to produce an extrusion.

A system for separating materials in space, comprising:

• a smelting vessel configured to contain feedstock materials obtained from an asteroid or lunar regolith, the feedstock materials including a first material and a second material;
• one or more optical components configured to collect solar energy from the Sun, concentrate the collected solar energy, and direct the concentrated solar energy to impinge upon a surface of the feedstock materials to melt the feedstock materials;
• and
• a motor configured to spin the smelting vessel to separate the melted feedstock materials into the first material and the second material.

A vapor phase deposition (VPD) orbiting factory in space, comprising:

• a crucible configured to hold an ingot of feedstock, the crucible comprising pores;
• a form in the shape of a structure to be fabricated;
• and
• a solar concentrator configured to concentrate solar power to a concentration ratio sufficient to vaporize the feedstock within the crucible, the vaporized feedstock passing through the pores in the crucible and depositing onto the form.

A method of forming a structure, comprising:

• receiving an asteroid at an orbiting factory in space;
• vaporizing the asteroid using concentrated solar energy to produce a feedstock material;
• loading the feedstock material into a vapor phase deposition (VPD) crucible;
• vaporizing the feedstock material within the VPD crucible with concentrated solar power;
• and
• forming the structure with the vaporized feedstock material.