ZBLAN Archives - The Enterprise Orbit

FOMS Inc gears up for ZBLAN fiber manufacturing on ISS

FOMS, Inc, a small business based in San Diego, California, has developed an automated fiber manufacturing process for producing a suite of next generation optical fiber in microgravity. FOMS, which is implementing its technology through NASA’s SBIR program, will see its first operational payload installed on the ISS in 2019. [caption id="attachment_2074" align="alignleft" width="356"] Dr. Dmitry Starodubov, chief scientist at FOMS Inc. Source: FOMS Inc[/caption] In-space manufacturing for Earth-based markets

Made In Space: Manufacturing fiber optic cable could become the first space-based industry

Editor's note: The Enterprise Orbit was formally called The Downlink. Made In Space is about to embark on a new chapter of its space-enabled manufacturing business, and life on Earth could easily be transformed for the better because of it. Made In Space got its start in additive manufacturing back in 2011 when it built a 3D printing lab at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The company has since launched two