China3D printingNet, June 25th, in the 2021 future investment plan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the design of the first inflatable plant planting capsule has great potential in expanding sustainable agriculture on earth and space. These advanced environmentally controlled greenhouses were created by the French-American company Interstellar Lab, called BioPods, designed to grow more than 300 different fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants anywhere. Now, this innovative company has partnered with Soliquid, a large-scale 3D printing startup, to rely on additive manufacturing (AM) technology to manufacture BioPods for earth and space.
Through this transaction, Interstellar Labs will develop a new 3D printing strategy to manufacture inflatable membranes and all the material systems of BioPod.The company also aims to3D printingIts Mars simulator, called the Experimental Biological Regeneration Station (EBios), is designed as the first closed-loop, environmentally controlled village on earth. As Soliquid described, this “exciting new adventure” will use its six-axis robot and extruder to 3D print complex parts in suspension, without support, faster, and with less material.
With the support of Leonard, VINCI’s future building acceleration program, Soliquid focuses on providing large-scale suspended 3D printing for the architecture, engineering, construction and design industries. The company has developed a patented system to 3D print concrete, resin and other materials in a controlled environment in a sustainable and efficient process.
Jim Rhoné, the co-founder of Soliquid, is currently the Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Interstellar Lab, and Barbara Belvisi, the founder of Interstellar Lab. Image courtesy of Interstellar Lab.
By expanding the production of BioPods through AM, Interstellar Lab will meet the growing demand on Earth. Interstellar Lab was founded by venture capital expert Barbara Belvisi several months after incubating at NASA Ames Space Portal in 2018, and now has a team of 15 former SpaceX, Disney, Airbus and Thales employees. As part of the agreement, Soliquid co-founder Jim Rhoné has joined the group as Chief Product Officer (CPO), overseeing BioPod’s product development from design to delivery, and overseeing the manufacturing process.
Considering that since September 2020, Rhoné has worked as an architect and computing designer at Interstellar Lab’s Paris headquarters, Rhoné’s latest career changes are not surprising. Rhoné describes his new role as a “dream” in a company, and he firmly believes that the space technology currently being developed will help protect the planet. “Space and ocean exploration are closely related, and as we begin to demystify them, Soliquid will use its best expertise to help Barbara’s vision become a reality. Fascinating times and future challenges.”
The environmental control module of the Interstellar Laboratory is used for sustainable agriculture on earth and life support in space. Image courtesy of Interstellar Lab.
Interstellar Lab’s BioPods focuses on providing space-level technology to effectively grow plants. The BioPods, used for sustainable agriculture and space life support on Earth, may be essential for upcoming manned space missions to the moon and Mars. For decades, NASA has been actively involved in advancing the application of growing food crops in space. In the late 1980s, space crop research gained tremendous momentum. At that time, the agency was interested in methods such as aeroponic crop production methods in space and hydroponic systems that water and fertilize plants under microgravity.
Although many of these experiments have failed, today, the agency needs to act quickly because upcoming space missions such as the Artemis moon landing program will take place sometime in the next decade. With the multiple plans of human exploration and colonization of space, including deep space missions to asteroids or Mars, space agriculture has become less new and more necessary.
Interstellar Lab plans to build a utopian Martian village in the Mojave Desert. Image courtesy of Interstellar Lab.
BioPods was designed using Dassault Systèmes’ 3D Experience platform, and Interstellar Labs promised that its first model display will be held near Paris sometime in the fall of 2021. This innovative product uses advanced crop cultivation technology as an independent system to promote biodiversity, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, close the water cycle, and reduce the land demand coefficient by 100. Expected to be the “future of sustainable plant cultivation”, BioPod’s inflatable membrane technology will use high-performance materials for 3D printing. The company is expected to produce high insulation properties.BioPods It can be used as a completely regenerated habitat, automatically adjusting air, pressure, water, temperature and humidity, and can create ideal environmental conditions for humans and plants outside the earth. They can be used alone or attached to form a module. By combining modules, the company believes that it can support the lives of larger groups and become a framework for sustainable cities on earth and in future space.
Soliquid’s 3D printing technology. Image courtesy of Soliquid.
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