Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) is an American private

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

company headquartered near

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 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 Robert Lull Forward (August 15, 1932 – September 21, 2002) was an American physicist and science fiction writer. His literary work was noted for its scientific credibility and use of ideas developed from his career as an aerospace engineer. He ...

, Tethers Unlimited began developing products based on

space tether Space tethers are long cables which can be used for propulsion, momentum exchange, stabilization and attitude control, or maintaining the relative positions of the components of a large dispersed satellite/spacecraft sensor system. Depending on t ...

technologies, including concepts for removal of

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecr ...

and

momentum exchange tether A momentum exchange tether is a kind of space tether that could theoretically be used as a launch system, or to change spacecraft orbits. Momentum exchange tethers create a controlled force on the end-masses of the system due to Centrifugal force, ...

s 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 An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...

winding and deployment, software defined radio communications, and 3D printed radiation shielding. In 2007, in collaboration with

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, the company launched the Multi-Application Survivable Tether (MAST) experiment to test the survivability of tethers in space.Hoyt, Robert; Slostad, Jeffrey; Twiggs, Robert (2003)
"The Multi-application Survivable Tether (MAST) Experiment"
Tethers Unlimited, Inc. 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 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

's Tipping point initiative. 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, for the mission duration of October 2018 to April 2019. 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." Through this technology a spacecraft would be able to build structures far greater than itself in orbit. On May 6, 2020 it was announced that Amergint Technologies acquired Tethers Unlimited

References

External links

*
Interview with Robert Hoyt
on ''The Space Show'' (August 1, 2006).
"Tethers Unlimited"
on YouTube (September 24, 2010).

''Space.com'' (April 6, 2015) Aerospace companies of the United States Robotics companies of the United States Companies based in Bothell, Washington {{US-org-stub

See also

References

External links