The world’s first 3D printer produced to be able to print in space was launched on September 20th. This great article from Space.com details the printer itself and how it is getting into space. This is a great step forward for the 3D printing industry, proving once again that this technology is going to be used to help us innovate the future, but it is also a great step forward for space exploration. As 3D printers are better refined and the number of printable materials increased we will see less and less need of shipping up numerous spare parts. Instead they will simply ship raw materials to space and create the spare parts as needed, thus reducing the space and weight they take up during transportation and storage.
October 3, 2014
