US 12,298,042 B2
Systems and methods for manufacturing in space environments
Joel C. Sercel, Lake View Terrace, CA (US); Philip J. Wahl, Altadena, CA (US); and James G. Small, Sonoita, AZ (US)
Assigned to Trans Astronautica Corporation, Lake View Terrace, CA (US)
Appl. No. 18/687,259
Filed by Trans Astronautica Corporation, Lake View Terrace, CA (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 31, 2022, PCT No. PCT/US2022/075792
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 27, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/034883, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 9, 2023.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/260,913, filed on Sep. 3, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0328674 A1, Oct. 3, 2024
Int. Cl. F24S 40/10 (2018.01); B01F 35/71 (2022.01); B64G 99/00 (2009.01); F24S 20/00 (2018.01); F24S 20/20 (2018.01); F24S 23/00 (2018.01); F24S 50/80 (2018.01)
CPC F24S 40/10 (2018.05) [B01F 35/71 (2022.01); B64G 99/00 (2022.08); F24S 20/00 (2018.05); F24S 20/20 (2018.05); F24S 23/00 (2018.05); F24S 50/80 (2018.05)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An orbiting factory in space, comprising:
a containment vessel configured to contain feedstock material 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 to a power level sufficient to evaporate volatile gases and to cause spalling and fracturing of the feedstock material, and direct the concentrated solar energy to impinge upon a surface of the feedstock materials; and
a plurality of condensation chambers configured to receive the evaporated gasses and condense the evaporated gasses into liquid fractions, the condensation chambers further configured to rotate around an axis of rotation such that the liquid fractions are collected on inner surfaces of the condensation chambers.