Program Summary
The Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D, pronounced NOMAD) program aims to develop the foundations of building robust, precise structures in space. The vision is to ferry raw materials from Earth for in-orbit manufacturing. All manufacturing would be done in orbital construction facilities and the results utilized in orbital applications. In contrast to today's deployable structures that are optimized for ground test and launch survival, structures such as solar arrays, antennas or optics will be specifically designed for the space environment. The NOM4D program comprises two technical areas. The first plans to develop and demonstrate foundational materials, manufacturing processes, and designs to enable the in-orbit fabrication of robust, resilient, and high-precision structures that will support future off-Earth space systems. The second technical area will investigate innovative designs that take advantage of the ability to manufacture in space, yet enable precise, mass-efficient future space structures that withstand maneuvers, eclipses, damage, and thermal cycles inherent to the space environment. The goal is to do so with mass efficiencies that transcend the limits of today's stiffness-driven designs.