(CNN)The International Space Station’s first 3D printer with its own recycling machine is en route to the orbital laboratory aboard a Northrop Grumman spacecraft.
The Cygnus spacecraft launched early Saturday morning aboard an Antares rocket, carrying 7,400 pounds of supplies to aid dozens of investigations and research projects conducted on the space station, NASA said in a news release.
The load includes the space station’s first all-in-one 3D printer and recycler, known as the “Refabricator,” NASA said. It will be able to take plastic materials and old 3D-printed parts on the space station and recycle them into new 3D-printer “ink” that will allow astronauts to make new tools in space.
