In a move that could lead to the realization of "space factories," Japan's space agency said Saturday it will make the world's first attempt to manufacture in space photonic crystals to be used in commercial laser equipment.
The project plans to utilize the low-gravity conditions at the International Space Station to make the crystals, officials of the National Space Development Agency of Japan told Kyodo News. It will be conducted jointly by the agency, optical equipment maker Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Nagoya City University and other organizations.
Over two years beginning in the summer of 2005, the three-dimensional photonic crystals, an optical material, will be made at the space station and then brought back to Earth for high-precision reprocessing and use as a key component in commercial laser equipment.