ThinkOrbital, founded in 2021, is a space infrastructure company that focuses on developing technologies for in-space construction and manufacturing. They are known for their ThinkPlatforms, scalable space structures designed for autonomous assembly in orbit, and their work on autonomous welding in space. ThinkOrbital partners with organizations like NASA and ESA and offers solutions for satellite servicing, space debris processing, on-orbit storage, and military operations. Keywords associated with ThinkOrbital include in-space manufacturing, space infrastructure, autonomous assembly, and space welding.
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ThinkOrbital received a CCSC-2 agreement with NASA interest in the company’s plans to demonstrate in-space welding as part of its Construction Technologies for Space Applications (CONTESA) concept.
The companies selected for CCSC-2 are Blue Origin of Kent, Washington; Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Dulles, Virginia; Sierra Space Corporation of Broomfield, Colorado; Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California; Special Aerospace Services of Boulder, Colorado; ThinkOrbital Inc. of Lafayette, Colorado; and Vast Space LLC of Long Beach, California.
ThinkOrbital Inc. of Lafayette, Colorado is collaborating with NASA on ThinkPlatforms, which are self-assembling, single-launch, large-scale orbital platforms, and on CONTESA (Construction Technologies for Space Applications) featuring welding, cutting, inspection, and additive manufacturing technologies for large-scale in-space fabrication.
ThinkOrbital received a CCSC-2 agreement to refine plans for large in-space platforms for research, manufacturing, and crewed applications.
ThinkOrbital is a candidate to be selected for the next phase of the Orbital Prime program, which could be worth up to $1,500,000.
ThinkOrbital is developing a spherical habitat called ThinkPlatform that would be assembled in space using a robotic arm.
ThinkOrbital assessed that the technologies required to build platforms in low Earth orbit already exist but need engineering to enable autonomous assembly and customer-scalable structures.
ThinkOrbital partnered with Redwire, KMI, and Arizona State University to win two research contracts worth $260,000 under the U.S. Space Force Orbital Prime program for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing.
Maverick Space Systems, Orbital Assembly Company, and ThinkOrbital received red scores from NASA for both technical approach and business plans in the CLD evaluation.