A new round of government funding is supporting work to create the UK’s first robotic welding system designed for use in orbit. The project is led by the University of Leicester with technical input from TWI, following a successful bid to the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme.
The initiative, known as ISPARK, has secured £560,000 to advance a robot-mounted arc-welding platform built for in-space repair and component joining. The technology is intended to support future servicing missions and the wider growth of in-orbit manufacturing, a priority area highlighted in the UK’s National Space Strategy.
Principal Investigator Dr Daniel Zhou Hao, from the University of Leicester School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, said: “ISPARK advances the UK’s and the world’s capability for in-space repair and manufacturing. By combining Leicester’s strengths in AI robotics and space engineering with TWI’s world-leading welding expertise, we are developing an enabling technology that could redefine how large structures are built and maintained in orbit.”
Testing will begin in controlled vacuum environments, supported by digital-twin modelling to assess performance under orbital conditions. The project brings together Leicester’s work in robotics, autonomous systems, and space engineering with TWI’s expertise in welding and materials science.
ISPARK sits within a wider £17 million package backing 17 space technology projects across the UK. The funding targets capabilities linked to satellite communications, Earth observation, in-orbit servicing, space domain awarenes,s and navigation technologies.
