Originally published on February 25, 2025, the following text describes the contract opportunity 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, 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.
ASA’s Ames Research Center Coded Structures Laboratory has also published research titled Ultra-light, Strong, and Self-Reprogrammable Mechanical Metamaterials. The intersection of this research with biologically grown space structures presents an opportunity for further exploration of intelligent, high-performance adaptive systems.
Reconfigurable multimodal robotics may also be an area of interest. Further research from Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) emphasizes versatility and agility in navigating complex terrains, as discussed in the paper Robotic Locomotion Through Active and Passive Morphological Adaptation in Extreme Outdoor Environments. Morphological reconfiguration appears to be a common theme across all three research areas.