Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

Given recent advances in metabolic engineering for rapid growth, extremophiles with novel properties, biological self-assembly properties of tunable materials (e.g. hydrogels, graphene aerogels), and emergent mechanical design principles of biological systems, DARPA is interested in exploring the feasibility of “growing” biological structures of unprecedented size in microgravity.

Rapid, controlled, directional growth to create very large (500+ meter length) useful space structures would disrupt the current state-of-the-art and position biology as a complimentary component of the in-space assembly infrastructure.

Some examples of structures that could be biologically manufactured and assembled, but that may be infeasible to produce traditionally, include tethers for a space elevator, grid-nets for orbital debris remediation, kilometer-scale interferometers for radio science, new self-assembled wings of a commercial space station for hosting additional payloads, or on-demand production of patch materials to adhere and repair micrometeorite damage.