The effort to make semiconductors in space has just taken a serious leap forward
Space Forge plans to make semiconductors from space without the need for humans
Narumon Bowonkitwanchai via Getty Images
Space Forge is on a mission to make semiconductors in space – no humans required. And on Wednesday, UK-based aerospace startup announced It has taken a major step toward that goal by creating plasma, or extremely hot gas, on a commercial satellite for the first time.
Making semiconductors requires extremely precise conditions, and both NASA And industry groups have argued that the microgravity environment of space is better for their manufacturing than Earth’s. The reasons for this vary, but part of it has to do with how silicon behaves in such an environment – it is easier to get the material to adhere to the structure needed to make a semiconductor.
In fact, Space Forge’s accomplishment builds on previous work done on the International Space Station, says Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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“The main difference here is that it was done on a completely commercial spacecraft, without any people,” he says. “This demonstration shows that semiconductor crystals can be manufactured in space using only machines.”
“Keeping people alive in space is expensive,” says Swope. “If machines could do that work instead, it would reduce the cost of manufacturing in space.”
Space Forge CEO Joshua Western Said in a press release The company’s work proves that the perfect environment for semiconductor manufacturing “can be achieved on a dedicated, commercial satellite – opening the door to an entirely new manufacturing arena.” space forge launched its satelliteForgeStar-1, in June. Its microwave-sized factory includes a furnace whose temperatures the company has shown reach approximately 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).
Other companies and research teams are joining the emerging space manufacturing industry. In 2024 another startup, Varda Space Industries, demonstrated that it is possible to grow crystals of ritonavir, an antiviral drug, on an uncrewed commercial spacecraft and return them to earthAnd most recently researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich 3D-printed human tissue in microgravity,
Libby Jackson, head of space at the Science Museum in England, said manufacturing in space is in its “early days”. told the BBCBut testing and certifying a technology like Space Forge “really opens the door to an economically viable product, where things can be made in space and returned to Earth and have use and benefits for everyone on Earth,”
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