The Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology has been awarded a grant of €125,000 from the Malta Council for Science & Technology, under the Space Upstream Programme (in collaboration with ESA), to develop a new method for repairing spacecraft hulls using cold-welding adhesion.

The project, led by Dr Leonardo Barilaro, Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at MCAST, is called ASTROBEAT, which stands for Advanced Spacecraft Technology for Repairing of Broken External Armor using cold-welding adhesion Treatment.

This pioneering project introduces the exploration of cold-welding phenomena for spacecraft hull repair following hypervelocity impacts caused by space debris. Unlike conventional repair methods, ASTROBEAT aims to harness cold-welding adhesion in the extreme conditions of space, revolutionizing the way we approach hull perforation repairs.

In the space environment, similar metallic materials can fuse or weld at ambient temperatures, provided there are sufficiently high contact forces. Cold-welding, previously seen as an adverse reaction, is being reimagined as a solution to repair spacecraft shield and hull perforations resulting from hypervelocity impacts due to micrometeoroids or space debris.

The ASTROBEAT project is a collaboration between MCAST, the Aerospace, Mechanical and Electronic Department at South East Technological University (SETU) in Ireland, the Centre of Studies and Activities for Space (CISAS) “G. Colombo” of the University of Padova in Italy, and the Skyup Academy in Italy.

The project is expected to start on November 1, 2023 and last for 18 months.