Space Forge, a Welsh company and a forerunner in the field of space manufacturing. They have to date made amazing progress to transform material production in orbit. The startup hopes to leverage the one-of-a-kind environment of space to grow unbeatable semiconductor crystals. This fundamental discovery has the potential to revolutionize electronics and ultra-fast optical networks. High-energy plasma On their path, they engineered their bold scientific undertaking, their ForgeStar-1, to create extreme plasma energy. This plasma will help make new, high-tech materials in microgravity.
Recently launched, the ForgeStar-1 satellite was a testbed for this new style of orbital furnace. The overall aim is to highlight the power of imagination to shape a truly successful manufacturing space. This new environment will foster and greatly amplify the growth of desirable crystals. Make no mistake, producing materials on Earth with perfect crystal structure is challenging, but within microgravity conditions, crystal growth is uniform. Consequently, crystals formed in space are much larger and more homogeneous than their terrestrial counterparts.
Space Forge aims to manufacture unique superconductor crystals. They think these materials have the potential to trigger breakthroughs in a wide range of technologies. The microgravity environment provides unique advantages, such as reduced interference from nitrogen and other contaminants that could interfere with crystal growth. Western elaborated on this point, stating:
“For example, if you’re worried about nitrogen interfering with your growth process, on Earth [in a vacuum chamber] nitrogen might be present at concentration of around 10 to the -11. In space, above 500 kilometers altitude, it’s naturally present at 10 to the -22.”
This purity is meant to be reflected up into huge leaps in performance.
The Potential of Space-Grown Crystals
Space Forge has produced new types of crystals that can dramatically increase the efficiency of switching. The resulting crystals are 20% to 40% more efficient than crystals grown on Earth. This breakthrough has great potential for many applications, particularly revered for high-performance power devices. The firm is looking forward to working with these space-grown crystals in future as seed crystals. With those new facilities, they will be producing substrates of gallium nitride or silicon carbide.
Western focused on the energy savings that would be possible by using these advanced materials. He stated:
“There is potential for significant energy savings, perhaps as much as 50 percent within large infrastructure installations such as [5G] towers.”
Collectively, these are advancements that do more than simply save costs. They can help the technology sector meet its sustainability goals.
Alongside Space Forge, many other companies have joined the race, accelerating the oncoming boom in the field of in-space manufacturing. ACME Space has scheduled the first test of its balloon-launched orbital factory, Hyperion, yet this year. They are aiming to corner key supply chains, including semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Meet Varda Industries, which has raised $329 million (most recently $42 million last month) to manufacture pharmaceuticals in space. At the same time, Voyager Technologies has patented a process for growing novel fiber-optic materials in orbit. The market for in-orbit manufacturing alone is projected to be an astounding $28.19 billion by 2034.
Challenges and Considerations
While we’re all excited about the opportunities that in-space manufacturing may eventually provide, experts have warned against over-hyping its potential. Executive director of the National Space Society Anne Wilson noted that microgravity is likely unsuitable for producing materials in bulk. It can deliver noteworthy benefits for specialty materials engineered for unique use cases.
Josh Western, who co-founded and runs Circulor, admitted these materials won’t last forever. He added that every new generation of growth will add to this decline.
“While I remember paying $20k a wafer in the early days, we are down in the hundreds of dollars range in volume markets like power. When they were a prized commodity, maybe sending to space made sense. While the cost of space is decreasing, it’s not decreasing faster than the cost of producing wafers.”
Space Forge is already preparing for its next mission in 2024. The company has to face an unfortunate reality — each of its space-grown crystals’ inaugural batches will be destroyed in the satellite’s de-orbit maneuver. Even with this hiccup, the team does not seem discouraged and is still looking very closely towards their eventual long term goals.
This rosy perspective takes into consideration that, though challenges remain, the benefits of space-grown materials could easily eclipse the cost of investing in them.
“If a space-grown substrate increases the yield of a $10,000 high-end AI processor from 50 percent to 90 percent or allows a quantum computer to function closer to room temperature rather than near absolute zero, the launch cost becomes a negligible fraction of the total value created,” stated E. Steve Putna.