DARPA Is Going To Build Superstructures In Space
The “NOM4D” project will undoubtedly be a boon for the nascent private space sector, but it could also have real strategic implications for the U.S. military.
If the claims of the Trump administration are to be believed, the United States is set for a revolution in domestic manufacturing. Whether this comes to be by the end of Trump’s term or not, the fact remains that American industry understands that it cannot continue relying on the globalized network of manufacturing that it came to depend upon over the last 50 years. One innovative method that is being explored is orbital manufacturing.
Enter the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and their Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program that began in 2022. The goal of NOM4D is to develop methods to ship raw materials into orbit for manufacturing in space. Thus far, the program has exceeded expectations over the last three years—to the point that DARPA did not feel the need to do more research in the laboratory.
The Groups Involved
Along with partner institutions, like the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, there are at least two projects that will be tested in orbit in 2026. One such test will be with the space manufacturing startup Momentus, another partner in the NOM4D program.
This experiment will involve taking Caltech’s composite fiber longeron-assembling robot and have it start building a component of an antenna aperture in orbit. DARPA thinks that if they can prove assembly in orbit is possible, this will be the first step toward constructing large structures in space.
Building Up America’s Military and Civilian Space Programs
Not only is this going to be a boon for the nascent private space sector, but the NOM4D project could have real strategic implications for the U.S. military, which is increasingly invested in expanding its foothold in space. Both the civilian and military U.S. space programs would benefit significantly from having the ability to construct large structures in space, as that would cut down the cost of fuels—especially as the longer-term goals of using resources on celestial objects, like the moon or Mars, will determine how successful America’s colonization of space will be.
Testing structures made of metamaterials at scale is the key to making permanent human settlement of space possible. It will be one the struts supporting the new space economy.
Whichever nation (or company) can make critical breakthroughs in this area first will be able to fulfill the wildest dreams of last century’s science fiction writers. And DARPA is leading the effort to ensure the United States, rather than a foreign power, like China, gets there first.
While the prospects of building massive facilities and equipment on the moon and Mars (and beyond) are still decades away, a little closer to home, the methods that DARPA’s NOM4D team are developing now will have significant impact in ensuring the US can reassert its dominance of the orbits around the Earth (and from there expand that dominance to the moon and beyond). If the NOM4D experiments pan out, then entirely new systems making life better on Earth can be built.
America Might Get Space-Based Solar Energy Soon
Consider the revolution in space-based solar power. The National Security Agency (NSA) identified this technology as a potentially game-changing energy production method as early as 2007. Indeed, since then, China has heavily invested in it. The United States should follow suit.
By placing massive collectors in geosynchronous orbit using the methods of NOM4D, the United States could lead an affordable alternative energy revolution, beaming solar power constantly to Earth—and thereby reducing the intermittency that terrestrial solar panels face.
Never Forget the Strategic Aspects
Furthermore, the strategic implications of the technology could be great. Not only would it be a boon for the civilian economy, but such a novel energy source would allow the U.S. military to beam reliable energy to any unit or base on Earth—even in places where getting fuel to those facilities is onerous.
What’s more, equipment that ordinarily would have to be constructed on Earth and blasted into orbit would be reduced significantly, as everything could be built in orbit. This is not the point of the NOM4D experiments that are slated to begin in orbit in 2026. But these experiments might lead to the creation of entire spaceships for the civilian space economy, as well as the military space program that will ensure the United States maintains strategic dominance in space.
So, here we have the push for greater American manufacturing meeting the rise of the new national space economy. This will profoundly alter the development of the United States for the better.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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