{"id":561300,"date":"2025-11-10T11:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T11:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/561300\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T11:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T11:49:13","slug":"china-joins-space-factory-race-against-us-with-breakthrough-in-inflatable-module-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/561300\/","title":{"rendered":"China joins space factory race against US with breakthrough in inflatable module tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s \u201cin-orbit factory\u201d has taken shape following a technological breakthrough in the form of an inflatable, reconfigurable space module, as it joins the United States and other countries to build large-scale industrial production lines in orbit.<\/p>\n

According to the developers, components of this smart morphing framework can be compactly folded during launch and inflated and unfolded once in orbit to form a vast, stable operational habitat, each a building block to create a manufacturing plant in space.<\/p>\n

Space factories have become a new frontier in which both the public and private sectors invest. In 2023, the California-based start-up Varda Space Industries announced the successful deployment of its first satellite, W-Series 1, into orbit, calling it the \u201cworld\u2019s first space factory\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Chinese developers say components of this smart morphing framework can be compactly folded during launch and inflated and unfolded once in orbit. Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

Director of the Institute of Mechanics\u2019 Sky Flight Science and Technology Centre Yang Yiqiang, who is overseeing the project, said the technology would propel China\u2019s space manufacturing from \u201cconcept verification\u201d to \u201cengineering realisation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be able to manufacture and produce directly within the space environment, achieving independent development and utilisation of space resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The advancement was recently detailed by the Institute of Mechanics, an affiliate of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).<\/p>\n

\"China\u2019sChina\u2019s Institute of Mechanics says the platform can be used to produce biopharmaceuticals, 3D-printed products and new materials in a space factory. Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

According to a statement issued by the Beijing-based institute on November 3, it recently tested a key module of the space factory \u2013 known as the \u201creconfigurable flexible in-orbit manufacturing platform\u201d \u2013 in collaboration with several other domestic research bodies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China\u2019s \u201cin-orbit factory\u201d has taken shape following a technological breakthrough in the form of an inflatable, reconfigurable space…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[3801,557,154322,1395,17854,178982,178985,178980,70,178983,178981,413,178984,178979,16,15,49,157068,178978],"class_list":{"0":"post-561300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-beijing","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-cas","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-chinese-academy-of-sciences","13":"tag-inflatable-space-factory","14":"tag-institute-of-mechanics","15":"tag-reconfigurable-flexible-in-orbit-manufacturing-platform","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-shenyang","18":"tag-sky-flight-science-and-technology-centre","19":"tag-space","20":"tag-space-biomedicine","21":"tag-space-manufacturing","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-varda-space-industries","26":"tag-yang-yiqiang"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115525253618182502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}