text: Spiders on Mars may have been predicted by David Bowie, but in fact spiders in space could help us get to the red planet. Tether Unlimited has revealed a system of robo spiders than can construct solar panels, trusses and other parts of spacecraft in orbit. The Nasa-back firm says it could dramatically reduce the cost of building spacecraft by allowing the final construction to take place in orbit. Scroll down for video . The system uses arachnid-like robots to construct large objects in orbit around the Earth by 'spinning' building material into shape. SpiderFab uses arachnid-like droids to construct large objects in orbit. SpiderFab could cut construction costs by only launching raw materials such as carbon fibre into orbit. The robots can then piece together the materials while in orbit, finishing off the spacecraft. The futuristic new system – dubbed SpiderFab – is being developed by a company called Tethers Unlimited. The system uses arachnid-like robots to construct large objects in orbit around the Earth or further into the Solar System. 'This process will enable space systems to be launched in a compact and durable 'embryonic' state,' the firm says. 'Once on orbit, these systems will use techniques evolved from emerging additive manufacturing and automated assembly technologies to fabricate and integrate components such as antennas, shrouds, booms, concentrators, and optics. 'The primary benefit of this on-orbit fabrication capability will be order-of-magnitude improvements in packing efficiency and system mass, which will enable NASA to use small, low-cost launch vehicles to deploy systems dramatically larger than possible with current state-of-the-art technologies. 'The net payoff will be to enable NASA to acquire and distribute a variety of forms of data at higher resolution, higher bandwidth, higher signal-to-noise, and lower life-cycle cost.' 'Our really long-term objective for all of this work is to eventually enable the use of in-situ resources to construct the infrastructure in space needed to support humanity's expansion throughout the solar system,' Dr. Robert Hoyt claimed last month during a presentation with NASA's Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group. Under a Nasa contract, the firm is currently implementing the first step in the SpiderFab architecture: a machine that uses 3D printing techniques and robotic assembly to fabricate long, high-performance truss structures. He says the current way we build spacecraft is flawed. 'It's a very expensive and time-consuming process, and also, the size of systems is somewhat limited by the size of the deployables that are possible to fold up and fit within a launch shroud,' he said. Tethers Unlimited hopes to launch its first working construction robot into space within the next couple of years. 'In a perfect world — if funding flowed and the contracting process didn't drag on forever — we think we could get to be able to build very large support structures for antennas and solar arrays, and those sorts of components, in the early 2020s,' Dr. Hoyt said. The 'Trusselator' device will enable construction of large support structures for systems such as multi-hundred-kilowat solar arrays, large solar sails, and football-field sized antennas. Under a Nasa contract, the firm is currently implementing the first step in the SpiderFab architecture: a machine that uses 3D printing techniques and robotic assembly to fabricate long, high-performance truss structures. This 'Trusselator' device will enable construction of large support structures for systems such as multi-hundred-kilowat solar arrays, large solar sails, and football-field sized antennas.
target: SpiderFab uses arachnid-like droids to construct large objects in orbit .
  Could be used to create the infrastructure to get man to Mars .