ORBITAL MATTER PRINTS A HALF-METER RIGID BEAM IN ORBIT BY UV-CURING EXTRUDED RESIN

Summary from the TLDR Hardware newsletter

Orbital Matter's Replicator-2 satellite 3D printed a half-meter rigid beam in orbit by extruding coils of resin cured with UV light, a first for a free-flying spacecraft. One of two printers meant to deploy a solar array failed, but the boom the other made did deploy the array. Boom length is limited only by onboard resin, and the company thinks 100 m is feasible. A 2028 mission targets a 5 kW array, then 100+ kW per wing by 2030.