# Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

Canonical: https://abierto.us/opportunities/darpasn2551

- Solicitation number: DARPA-SN-25-51
- Notice type: Special notice
- Status: Closed. Deadline was March 27, 2025
- Department: Department of Defense
- Agency: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Contracting office: Def Advanced Research Projects Agcy (HR0011)
- NAICS: 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
- Product or service code: AC11 National Defense R&D Services; Department Of Defense - Military; Basic Research
- First posted: February 25, 2025
- Last posted: February 25, 2025
- SAM.gov: https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/49c9fac62ef249f19cda8b436a095d3b/view

## Description

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.

## Publications

- February 25, 2025: Special notice, due March 27, 2025. Notice 426e5868fcf74dd4ada3768b00b09234. https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/426e5868fcf74dd4ada3768b00b09234/view
- February 25, 2025: Special notice, due March 27, 2025. Notice 49c9fac62ef249f19cda8b436a095d3b. https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/49c9fac62ef249f19cda8b436a095d3b/view

## Points of contact

- Michael "Orbit" Nayak, Ph.D., DARPA-SN-25-51@darpa.mil

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