Redwire announced an optical crystal in 2022 as the first sale of an in-space fabricated product. The very first commercial space-made product was likely the perfectly spherical latex beads in the 1980s.
Updated: 2024-02-24
Created: 2023-03-11
Applications
- High power laser systems.
Why & Solution
The space-enabled optical crystal was manufactured in Redwire’s Industrial Crystallization Facility (ICF) onboard the International Space Station (ISS). This transaction marks the first time that a space-enabled materials product has been sold on Earth—a significant milestone for space commercialization and a demand signal for Redwire’s space-based manufacturing.
Space-manufactured optical crystals could provide significant improvements to high-power, large laser systems used on Earth. The high-energy laser market is seeing strong growth with an increasing number of terrestrial applications from advanced manufacturing and machining to weapons systems. These laser systems are enabled by high efficiency laser lenses that are produced using optical crystals.
Currently, optical crystals manufactured on Earth have lower damage thresholds due to gravity-induced inclusions and defects which limits the output of high-power laser systems since the lenses are subjected to laser-induced damage. Space-manufactured optical crystals could improve system performance because they have a higher laser damage threshold due to fewer inclusions and defects because of the space manufacturing process.
“The ability for Ohio State to work with space-grown crystals improves our ability to grow CEMAS as a signature materials characterization and research facility unlike any other, for space-based and terrestrial materials, addressing complex challenges in domains ranging from cancer to planetary science,” said Dr. John Horack, Professor and Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace at Ohio State.
CEMAS researchers will study the space-grown crystal and compare it to Earth-grown potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals using aberration-corrected electron microscopy to observe atomic-scale differences in impurities and defects between the two materials, something that has not yet been achieved. The space-manufactured crystal presents an opportunity for CEMAS to build the group’s capabilities for analyzing materials manufactured in space and those that could be returned from asteroids, the Moon and Mars in the future. The insights from this research could also inform the development process of space-manufactured optical crystals to optimize future products.
Launched in early 2021, ICF is a commercial in-space manufacturing facility designed to demonstrate microgravity-enhanced techniques for growing inorganic KDP crystals that are commonly used in high-energy laser systems on Earth. The facility is just one of several Redwire ISS payloads developed with the purpose of catalyzing and scaling demand for commercial capabilities in LEO by producing high-value products for terrestrial use.
Companies
Redwire page at Factories in Space
In 2022, Redwire sold its first space-optimized product—a space-grown optical crystal—manufactured on its Industrial Crystallization Facility, which launched to the ISS in 2021.
- First sale of its space-manufactured optical crystal to researchers at the Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS), a leading electron microscopy facility, at The Ohio State University.
- The transaction recorded two grams of space-manufactured crystal were sold to Ohio State. Based on the sample size sold, the space-manufactured crystals have an approximate value of $2 million per kilogram.
Industrial Crystallization Facility
- Launched its sixth manufacturing facility to the International Space Station (ISS) on Northrop Grumman’s 15th commercial resupply mission (NG-15). On Earth, certain KDP crystals are used in high-power, large laser systems. These crystals are often subject to laser-induced damage which limits the output of the system. This damage is often caused by impurities created during the crystal growth process. ICF will employ specific crystal growth techniques in microgravity that could minimize these gravity-induced defects and yield improved crystals for these types of applications. While organic molecular crystal growth has been studied on the International Space Station for many years, ICF is explicitly focused on growing inorganic crystals for industrial applications.
- ICF is a commercial in-space manufacturing device designed to provide proof-of-principle for diffusion-based crystallization methods to produce high-quality optical crystals in microgravity relevant for terrestrial use, specifically laser optics products. The ICF’s in-orbit operations could provide a valuable understanding of the diffusion process in microgravity and will open access channels to those within the materials and in-space production research communities. In-space production applications and advanced materials are areas of focus for the ISS National Lab and the nation, and space-based research and development within these fields may yield results that bring value back to our nation and drive a robust and sustainable market in low Earth orbit.
Revenue Estimation
Cost Estimation
Earthly Solution Risk
Exists and the space-grown crystal needs to be studied and compared to Earth-grown crystals.