Ferris Wheel Technologies specializes in orbital construction. We produce, outfit, and verify advanced assets on orbit.
Contact usA builder satellite is a self-contained, solar-powered spacecraft that constructs the product on orbit. We deliver it turnkey, with raw materials, integrated manufacturing equipment, robotic assembly modules, navigation, and communication.
We exploit a low-power technology for producing high-performance carbon fiber reinforced polymer beams with various cross sections in space. Thermoset resins are triggered on orbit and cure rapidly by frontal ring-opening metathesis polymerization, a reaction powered by the resin’s own chemical energy.
Precision machines join struts into truss frameworks to form the structural skeleton of the asset. This allows structures larger than any launch fairing. Mass-optimized rigid joints minimize thermal and assembly distortions, enabling higher dimensional accuracy and stiffness than deployable structures.
The builder satellite equips the truss for its mission: solar panels for large power wings, RF mesh for antennas, optical panels for imaging systems, or multi-layered walls for enclosed habitats like the bays and airlocks of commercial space stations.
Integrated in-space mechanical, thermal, and electrical verification and validation of the constructed asset. Built-in structural health monitoring sensors enable lifetime condition assessment.
Customizable solar wings ranging from 100 kW to 1 MW.
A 20+ m antenna, with RF mesh carried on an assembled truss.
A 10+ m high-precision longwave infrared optical system for remote sensing.
A depot of spare parts for on-orbit servicing with integrated robotics.
Co-founder
Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Inventor and in-space manufacturing pioneer. Sam holds a PhD from the University of Michigan and was a postdoctoral associate at MIT and a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Co-founder
Yun Seong holds a PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in processing and manufacturing of composite materials, and is the inventor of several frontal polymerization manufacturing technologies.
For all inquiries, email us at contact@ferriswheeltech.com.