Orbiting 3-D Printers Could Print Out New Space Stations | Popular Science

Orbiting 3-D Printers Could Print Out New Space Stations | Popular Science: It just makes more logical and economical sense to print parts for spacecraft and space stations in space, says the company's founder. If parts do not need to withstand the G-forces of being launched, their mass can be reduced by 30 percent. NASA could just launch the gray goo known as feedstock into orbit, to be dealt with later. Manufacturing parts in space also means that anything that breaks wouldn’t have to be shuttled down to Earth for repairs. The broken part could be recycled back into feedstock, and the printer could just crank out a new one.