Orbital Matter’s Replicator 2 produced a half-meter beam in orbit, according to TechCrunch reporting published November 3, 2026.
The spacecraft carries equipment that makes structural elements outside its body. Instead of carrying every completed support into orbit in a folded configuration, Replicator 2 tests the production of rigid structures from material carried aboard the satellite.
Orbital Matter’s launch announcement describes an approximately 13-kilogram, eight-unit CubeSat launched on July 7, 2026, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-17 mission. Four independent printer modules were installed on the spacecraft. The planned demonstrations included printed supports for solar arrays, an antenna, and a camera.
Resin Becomes a Structural Support
The printing process extrudes a photopolymer resin and uses ultraviolet light to harden it. Continuous extrusion and curing form a rigid boom, a structural member that can hold equipment away from the spacecraft.
In an August mission update, Orbital Matter reported an initial print exposed directly to the vacuum, microgravity, and temperature conditions outside the satellite. Four onboard cameras provide views of the printing activity, supporting visual feedback and the company’s automatic quality-monitoring system.
The demonstration sequence progresses from initial printing to longer structures and deployment of equipment attached to them. The original mission plan called for booms as long as one meter. That planned length describes the mission objective.
An Antenna Deployment Demonstration
A separate Thales Alenia Space collaboration, announced July 20, connects the printing experiment to antenna deployment. The companies arranged a demonstration using a very-high-frequency antenna mockup supported by a printed boom.
The mockup tests the mechanical deployment arrangement. The printed member provides the separation and support needed to position the antenna structure away from the satellite body. The collaboration developed through Thales Alenia Space’s Space Business Catalyst accelerator.
Orbital Matter identified a full-scale, functional antenna as a planned follow-on development, with ground testing preceding an orbital demonstration. Replicator 2 supplies the in-orbit manufacturing and deployment experience for that sequence.
