Introduction of Innovative Additive Manufacturing Technologies into the Nanosatellites Design and Realization

Aerospace industry is showing increasing interest in the unique possibilities provided by advanced manufacturing technologies applied to very small satellites. In particular, Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques are always more imposing itself to represent key enabling technologies for a broad range of new space missions and systems. AM allows to produce complex geometries that were impossible or very difficult, expensive and time consuming to manufacture with traditional manufacturing techniques. The resulting performance and programmatic benefits, in terms of mass saving, multi-functional integration, manufacturing flexibility improvement, lead-time and cost reduction can be impressive for the aerospace sector, permitting the realization of systems and missions otherwise unfeasible. Otherwise, to completely and efficiently make these potentialities real is necessary to shift from a traditional design mindset to an innovative and disruptive design thinking, integrating the new AM logics and rules into the actual design workflows, by using an unavoidable Design For Additive Manufacturing (DFAM) approach, strongly supported by Systems Engineering and Systems Architecting methodologies. Many technical and managerial challenges come out from the introduction of AM and DFAM within the industrial reality, anyway it is necessary for aerospace actors to not lose these opportunities, finding the proper ways to face the AM and DFAM challenges, for example considering different risk management policies. For that, a very good chance it is now offered by the key trend towards the realization of very large constellations of low cost small satellites and the actual renovated approach to dealing with risks and innovation brought by the NewSpace revolution, characterized by the strong presence of private commercial players. So, the synergy between very small satellites and AM need to be even more better investigated. Therefore given less stringent design requirements, both from AM and NewSpace systems, and focusing on the AM possibilities to realize multi-functional systems and highly complex multi-pieces components in a reduced number of parts, the presentation wants to discuss the possible MAIT (Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Test) benefits for the nano satellites class, by the application of DFAM methodologies for the realization of an innovative structural configuration implementing new assembly concepts. In the Sapienza Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Space Systems research group and the Smart Structures and Materials research group, headed by Prof. Gaudenzi, joined with the Mechanical Technologies research area, have collaborated designing and realizing different prototypes of nanosatellites, components and mechanisms. Polymeric conceptual mock-ups through Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) additive technology and a metallic functional prototype through Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) technology have been realized, enabling moreover the possibilities to analyze and compare different architectural and mechanical solutions according to the use of different materials and AM technologies. A CubeSat structure in only one piece, as a potentially useful solution has been realized