An Electron-Beam Melting Printer for Orbital Production of Titanium Components: Energy, Thermal and Mass Budgets

This paper presents a computed design study, SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED, for titanium brackets, fittings and pressure housings in orbit, using Ti-6Al-4V powder, 45-106 micrometre grade. The operating principle is distinct from neighbouring production methods: a focused electron beam, accelerated through 60 kilovolts and magnetically deflected, scans a preheated powder bed in vacuum and fully melts each layer. The orbital vacuum is an asset here rather than a burden: the beam needs vacuum to propagate, and a vented build chamber can use the surrounding environment instead of carrying a sealed terrestrial vacuum vessel and its pumps. Sizing follows from budgets computed in the accompanying script rather than from analogy with terrestrial equipment. The headline figures are a specific energy of 3.35 megajoules per kilogram of product, an installed electrical power of 3 kilowatts, a production rate of 3.23 kilograms per hour, and an annual throughput of 2.56e+04 kilograms over 330 operating days. Rejecting 1.65 kilowatts of waste heat at 340 kelvin requires 2.47 square metres of radiator, a photovoltaic supply requires 7.35 square metres of array, and the installed mass is 511 kilograms. Moving feedstock from a 400 kilometre to an 800 kilometre orbit costs 217 metres per second of velocity change. The study is a computed study with no targeting or weapon application; it concerns civilian production equipment only, and none of its figures is a measurement.