Additive Manufacturing in Space: Process Physics, Qualification, and Future Directions

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has emerged as a key enabling technology for in-space manufacturing, offering the potential to reduce logistics mass, enhance mission autonomy, and support long-duration exploration. The suppression of gravity-driven phenomena fundamentally alters melt pool dynamics, heat transfer, surface-tension-dominated flow, and defect formation, limiting the direct transferability of terrestrial AM process knowledge to space applications. This paper reviews the current understanding of metallic additive manufacturing process physics under reduced gravity, with emphasis on melt pool behavior, dimensional stability, and in situ monitoring constraints. Approaches for qualification and certification are critically examined, including the applicability of existing AM standards, the role of digital twins and model-based verification, and emerging strategies for space-based validation. Enabling technologies such as autonomous and AI-assisted fabrication, compact hardware architectures, and alternative energy sources are discussed in the context of reliable in-space operation. By synthesizing current developments and identifying key limitations and open challenges, the review provides a roadmap for advancing additive manufacturing toward operational readiness, supporting sustainable exploration, in-space infrastructure development, and long-duration human presence beyond low Earth orbit.