Tethers Unlimited, Inc.

Tethers Unlimited
Company typePrivate
IndustryAerospace
Founded1994[1]
FounderRobert L. Forward, Robert P. Hoyt
Headquarters
Bothell, WA[2]
,
United States
Key people
Robert P. Hoyt[1]
Productsspace tethers, orbital robotic assembly and fabrication technologies
Number of employees
~50 (2019)[3]
Websitearka.org

Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) is an American private aerospace company headquartered near Seattle, Washington, which performs research and development of new products and technologies for space, sea, and air.

Founded in 1994 by Robert P. Hoyt and Robert L. Forward, Tethers Unlimited began developing products based on space tether technologies, including concepts for removal of space debris[4] and momentum exchange tethers for launching payloads into higher orbits. TUI has since broadened its suite of technologies to include power, propulsion, actuation, and communications systems for small satellites, robotic technologies for on-orbit fabrication and assembly, optical fiber winding and deployment, software defined radio communications, and 3D printed radiation shielding.

In 2007, in collaboration with Stanford University, the company launched the Multi-Application Survivable Tether (MAST) experiment to test the survivability of tethers in space.[5][6][7] In 2016 it was reported by SpaceNews and Yahoo that the company's subdivision Firmamentum signed a deal with SSL to fly its in-space manufacturing technologies on SSL's Dragonfly program which is funded by NASA's Tipping point initiative.[8][9]

In December 2018 it was reported that Tethers Unlimited delivered a Refabricator to the ISS that accepts plastic material and converts it into high-quality 3D printer filament,[10] for the mission duration of October 2018 to April 2019.[11]

According to TUI's website, Firmamentum is currently working on building the 'Spiderfab' technology to "enable on-orbit fabrication of large spacecraft components such as antennas, solar panels, trusses, and other multifunctional structures."[12] Through this technology a spacecraft would be able to build structures far greater than itself in orbit.[13][14]

On May 6, 2020 it was announced that Amergint Technologies acquired Tethers Unlimited,[15] and Amergint and Tethers Unlimited are now subsidiaries of Arka (also based in Colorado).[16]

  1. ^ a b "About Tethers Unlimited". www.tethers.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  2. ^ "TUI: Engineering the Future". www.tethers.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  3. ^ "Tethers Unlimited space venture lays off 20 percent of staff due to NASA shutdown". GeekWire. January 13, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  4. ^ Schwartz, Evan I. (May 24, 2010). "The Looming Space Junk Crisis: It's Time to Take Out the Trash". Wired. p. 3.
  5. ^ Hoyt, Robert; Slostad, Jeffrey; Twiggs, Robert (2003). "The Multi-application Survivable Tether (MAST) Experiment". Tethers Unlimited, Inc.
  6. ^ Greenfieldboyce, Nell (April 16, 2007). "Space Tethers: Slinging Objects in Orbit?". NPR.
  7. ^ McKee, Maggie (March 28, 2007). "'Inspector Gadget' to star in space tether test". New Scientist.
  8. ^ "Tethers Unlimited's Firmamentum strikes deal to demonstrate orbital manufacturing". finance.Yahoo.com. October 7, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  9. ^ "Tethers Unlimited expands to fulfill additive manufacturing orders". SpaceNews.com. December 8, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  10. ^ "Tethers Unlimited Inc. delivers 3D printer, plastic recycler hybrid to NASA". Design Engineering. December 17, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  11. ^ "Experiment Details". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  12. ^ "TUI". www.tethers.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  13. ^ "Building lighter and huge in the low gravity of space – NextBigFuture.com". www.nextbigfuture.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  14. ^ "Several ways to 1000-meter space telescopes – NextBigFuture.com". www.nextbigfuture.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  15. ^ "Tethers Unlimited acquired by Amergint Technology". May 7, 2020.
  16. ^ "Our Legacy". Arka. Retrieved January 3, 2024.