NASA has named the nine US companies, including Lockheed Martin Corp, that will compete for funding under the space agency’s renewed long-term moon program, the Nasa Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). It is a $2.6 billion private-public undertaking to develop technology that will explore the lunar surface. Compared to the first “moon race” of the 60’s, advanced manufacturing technologies – and in particular additive manufacturing – are making it more cost effective to develop and deploy space systems. So much so that startups and private companies can play a major role. We recently spoke with Masten Space Systems, one of the private companies selected for the CLPS, and learned how they – and their partner Elementum 3D – are using AM to go where no private company has gone before.
