ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,269,617, issued on April 8, was assigned to Maxar Space LLC (Palo Alto, Calif.).
"3D printed spacecraft structures" was invented by Thomas Kilborn Church (Menlo Park, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An example apparatus includes a first 3D printer head configured to form a spiral structure around a hub and a second 3D printer head configured to form a boom extending between the second 3D printer head and the hub. The apparatus further includes one or more actuators coupled to the first 3D printer head and the second 3D printer head to control a distance between the first 3D printer head and the second 3D printer head."
The patent ...