Seminars

Next-generation spacecraft are breaking free from the constraints of traditional launch-driven design by embracing in-space manufacturing and assembly (ISAM). This seminar presents a suite of novel structural concepts aimed at creating mass-efficient, resilient, and high-precision space structures that are unconstrained by stowage and deployability requirements. The approach leverages advanced mechanical metamaterials—such as dissipative viscoelastic beams, creased thin plates, and zero-thermal-expansion (ZTE) truss elements—to simultaneously enhance stiffness, damping, and thermomechanical stability while minimizing mass. In this context, we demonstrate, through combined numerical modeling and experimental validation, that structural creasing can significantly increase stiffness with negligible mass penalty, dissipative metamaterial beams enhance structural damping, and ZTE trusses achieve a very high thermomechanical precision. These concepts are implemented in two space structures: a 1 MW solar array composed of creased panels supported by a lightweight viscoelastic truss, and a large-aperture radio-frequency antenna employing optimized netband–spoke architectures and thermally stable metamaterial components. Lab-scale mock-ups of both structures undergo multi-environment testing and exhibit substantial improvements in structural precision, damping, and overall performance. The resulting design framework establishes a new class of in-space manufacturable structures—ranging from solar arrays and thermal radiators to antennas and telescopes—laying the foundation for scalable orbital platforms and future extraterrestrial infrastructure.