Semiconductor manufacturing 'factory' to be launched into space

British startup Space Forge is preparing to launch an experimental satellite to produce new semiconductor materials that could be used in electronic devices.

Space Forge's satellite will manufacture new semiconductor materials in space. Photo: Space Forge — Space Forge's satellite will manufacture new semiconductor materials in space. Photo: *Space Forge*

Space Forge lost its first experimental satellite when Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket failed to launch from Cornwall in January. The new satellite, ForgeStar-1, will be transported to the United States for launch later this year or early next year, Space Forge founder and CEO Josh Western told Space on Oct. 2.

Space Forge recently signed a cooperation agreement with US aerospace company Northrop Grumman to supply semiconductors manufactured in space, which Northrop Grumman will then further develop in its own facilities.

Semiconductors are essential to all types of electronic technology, but producing them on Earth is costly and energy intensive. The microgravity and vacuum of space could allow entirely new semiconductor materials to be developed much more efficiently, Western said.

"Making compound semiconductors is a very time-consuming and energy-intensive process, growing them literally atom by atom. Gravity also has a big impact, changing the bonds between those atoms. In space, you can overcome this obstacle because there is no gravity," Western said.

Space also provides an ideal vacuum environment, which is necessary to protect sensitive materials from contamination. In factories on Earth, vacuum environments must be created by industrial machinery. The combination of microgravity and the vacuum of space could allow researchers to create semiconductors that are 10 to 100 times more efficient than those on Earth, according to Western.

The microwave-sized ForgeStar-1 satellite houses an automated mini-chemistry lab that allows scientists to remotely mix chemical compounds and develop new semiconductor alloys while in orbit. But instead of bringing materials back to Earth, ForgeStar-1 will send digital results back to scientists because it is not designed to return.

Space Forge’s next “factory” will be designed to survive the atmospheric plunge and bring its products back to Earth. The company will not only focus on semiconductor manufacturing, but also plans to use satellites to conduct other industrial processes. Western said the first reentry satellite could launch in two to three years.

Thu Thao (According to Space )

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