Astroport Space Technologies (XArc, Exploration Architecture)

Product/Service - Surveyorbot

Classification
Surface Habitats & Structures
Category
Space Construction Company
Landing Pads
Commercial Rover
Fields
Moon
Status
Development
First launch
Not announced

Astroport Space Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2020 as a technology venture arm and a subsidiary of Exploration Architecture Corporation. Astroport is developing patent-pending regolith solidification technologies for lunar infrastructure construction using 3D printing and autonomous robotics, with an initial focus on lunar landing pad emplacements.

XArc’s planetary construction subsidiary, Astroport Space Technologies, Inc., awarded NASA funding to develop lunar landing pad construction technology. Astroport was awarded a NASA Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer contract (STTR) for development of its lunar regolith melting technology for constructing landing pads on the Moon. Astroport and its research institution partner, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will jointly develop technology for an “Induction Furnace-Nozzle for Forming and Placing Lunar Regolith Bricks for Landing Pad Construction”

A division of space startup company Exploration Architecture, Astroport was recently awarded its second NASA Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract for construction work on the Moon. Astroport, which is located at Port San Antonio, will work to develop geotechnical engineering processes as part of its joint efforts with UTSA. “This research is a natural progression of the university’s regolith liquefaction investigations, in that the Phase 1 study will develop discreet-event modeling of the bulk regolith conveyance methods to help determine feed rates for Astroport’s Lunatron bricklayer system,” Bin-Shafique said.

Astroport Space Technologies, Inc. has been awarded its second NASA Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract for the construction of landing pads on the Moon.

Astroport Space Technologies, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas USA, and FourPoint, headquartered in Wrocław, Poland, announce they are joint signatories of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for collaboration on the construction of a lunar launch and landing pad (LLP).

Astroport Space Technologies and its parent organization Exploration Architecture Corporation (XArc) received a combined $1.3M in NASA SBIR/STTR awards for development of extreme environment landing pad technologies, 2023-11-27.

  • NASA awarded Astroport a Phase 1 SBIR to advance development of its unique Lunatron® furnace-nozzle for making bricks from molten lunar regolith (lunar soil). Bricks are used for the surface pavement in Astroport's LLP design. 
  • NASA awarded Astroport's parent company, XArc, a Phase 1 STTR contract for development of an autonomous pathfinder surveying robot (Surveyorbot) to determine geotechnical characteristics of a potential landing site. The Surveyorbot will perform precursor surveying missions prior to deployment of surface construction operations, to characterize regolith handling difficulty at a selected site, such as load bearing capability, compaction and penetration depth, as well as soil settlement due to imposed loads from heavy cargo landers. 
  • NASA also selected Astroport and its consortium team comprised of industry partners and academic research institutions, for a Phase 2 STTR award valued at $850,000 to refine the team's Phase 1 defined concept of operations (CONOPS) and system architecture for the LLP site preparation and construction process. A bulk regolith distribution system for hauling excavated regolith, processing at a sorting station, and sieving for feedstock production for the LLP brickmaking robots is further developed during the Phase 2 effort.

Payloads to be Launched on Upcoming SpaceX Mission to the Moon, 2023-11-21

Lunar

How do we do it?

  1. REGOLITH MATERIALS
  2. REGOLITH REFINING
  3. 3D PRINTING AND PLACEMENT
  4. GEOTECHNICAL SITE PREPERATION

Mars

Mars research development projects within XArc focus on 3D construction printing of habitats. Our HexHab and ArcHab concepts for Mars habitation incorporate in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and autonomous construction techniques, while also investigating outfitting of secondary stuctures and interior layouts.

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