RAPID

ARTSAT 3D Printed Satellite Sends ‘Poetry’ Back from Space

Eplus 3D

Share this Article

InternalStructureThe last pair of signals to reach Earth from the ARTSAT came from the lonely void some 4.7 million kilometers away in space during January.

Akihiro Kubota

Akihiro Kubota

The first 3D printed satellite in history, the ARTSAT was both a sculpture and a space vehicle, and it was a project launched by a collaborative initiative between Tama Art University and the University of Tokyo.

Made up of two groups, the satellite manufacturing engineering group and a satellite utilization art group, the Japanese team say they wanted to “help build a society where satellites and the universe are familiar in our daily lives.”

“Although satellites are usually invisible, they silently orbit the earth at ultra-high speed, transmitting various data,” says Professor Akihiro Kubota of Tama Art University. “The art satellite has no specific mission such as scientific exploration or engineering demonstration. We hope to introduce an awareness of satellites and the universe into our lives. This will be achieved by creating media art works, for example, that appeal to human perception and sensation using familiar data transmitted from the satellite such as temperature, brightness, and attitude. Another example is the design of everyday products and applications such as furniture and accessories linked to the satellite’s motion, status, and environment.”

ARTSATOne month after the Deep Space Sculpture “ARTSAT2:DESPATCH” was put into an Earth-escape orbit as a part of H-IIA F26 rocket’s launch payload from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the device stopped sending radio signals, but the signals were never really the point of the project.

According to Kubota, the project had an artistic mission to create a “deep-space sculpture” and create “generative poetry” while transmitting that poetry back to Earth. It was also meant to “test the use of 3D printed parts for spacecraft,” and it succeeded on both counts.

Kubota says the sculpture’s 3D printed design took into account structural, thermal, and electromagnetic characteristics to perform on-board verification of the effectiveness of its 3D printed parts and instruments. He adds that the project will gather information about design methodologies of space instruments and manufacturing techniques.

Some of the key specialists participating in this project came from Nishi Musen Kenkyuusho Co., Ltd. and Yuki Precision Co., Ltd.; the device was 3D printed by the SOLIZE Corporation.

Calling the satellite a “sculptural object in deep space” and an “artificial asteroid sailing through the void eternally,” Kubota says he hopes the object “will live on in people’s memories and imaginations.”

What do you think of ARTSAT? Let us know in the 3D Printed Satellite forum thread on 3DPB.com.

artsat students  460px-CoordSystem 600px-DespatchFm_4

Share this Article


Recent News

3D Printing News Briefs, April 1, 2023: Wohlers Report, Metal Materials, & More

Former Xerox CTO to Drive Growth for Impossible Objects’ Composite 3D Printing



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

The Advanced Manufacturing Talent Pipeline Forming on Chicago’s West Side

Advanced manufacturing can be used as an entry point into many different industries, but finding those opportunities can be challenging. One company in Chicago is creating a pathway within the...

3D Printing News Briefs, March 25, 2023: Software Launch, Dental Ceramics, & More

We’re starting off with software in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, as Desktop Metal launched its Live Suite for generative AI solutions for additive manufacturing 2.0. Then it’s on to...

3D Printing News Briefs, March 22, 2023: Carbon Sequestration, 3D Printed Bird Drones, & More

In 3D Printing News Briefs today, Meltio is expanding its worldwide partner network, and 3D Systems introduced its VSP Connect portal. Oregon State University and Sandia National Laboratories received a...

3DPOD Episode 144: High Volume Carbon Fiber 3D Printing with 9T Labs CEO Martin Eichenhofer

Martin Eichenhofer took his research from ETH Zurich and turned it into an exciting startup, 9T Labs, which hopes to make its two step carbon fiber 3D printing technique suitable...