In December, Space Forge touched into an orbital furnace on its ForgeStar-1 satellite. The process created super-hot plasma, the goal being the formation of near-perfect semiconductor crystals in microgravity. Knowledge quarter Space Forge was founded in 2018. Their mission is to accelerate the production of the high-performance materials vital to the advancement of next-generation electronics, ultrafast optical networks and pharmaceutical research breakthroughs. Coming later this year, our ForgeStar-1 satellite will deploy our very first Reentry-EREE innovation Test during its de-orbit maneuver. This is the latest example of a growing belief in the untapped promise of materials grown in space.
The company’s inventive furnace has the unique capabilities needed to produce the seed crystals required to build high performance power devices. Except that the very first batch of crystals created will meet their end when the satellite returns to Earth. Space Forge is already working on a follow-up launch to bring home the results of this mission. This undertaking is, indeed, simultaneously audacious and daunting!
The Role of Microgravity in Crystal Growth
Microgravity is a key factor in the growth of high-quality crystals. Joshua Western, the co-founder and CEO of Space Forge, underscores a distinct benefit of the space environment. Especially on a technical level, it dramatically reduces or dilutes impurities that can impede the crystal formation.
“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,” – Joshua Western
He tells us about the presence of nitrogen in space, at heights beyond 500 km. This far from our planet, its concentration is less than 10 to the power of -22. Through this major reduction of impurities, it may allow the growth of larger and more perfect semiconductor crystals.
Other experts are more cautious about whether large-scale production will actually be possible in microgravity. Anne Wilson remarked, “I don’t think that microgravity is going to be ideal for the manufacture of bulk materials.” Despite this skepticism, she acknowledged that “niche materials for specific applications might be worth the investment.”
Potential Applications and Economic Impact
Space Forge’s seed crystals could revolutionize pharmaceutical, aerospace, and electronic industries. Once returned to Earth, manufacturers can further develop and utilize these crystals. They could use them to produce substrates made of gallium and aluminum nitride or silicon carbide. From as little as one kilogram of space-grown semiconductor material, manufacturers would be able to produce tonnes of high-performance product.
During his presentation at RLA tech 10, Joshua Western reminded the audience of the economic benefits tied to utilizing space-grown materials. He stated, “There is potential for significant energy savings, perhaps as much as 50 percent within large infrastructure installations such as 5G towers.” This would result in significant cost savings on operations and maintenance for tech providers.
The economic impact goes even deeper into niche industries. Still, Mr. E. Steve Putna noted the transformative effect including such materials would have on AI data centers. He referred to them as “a game-changer for AI data centers where cooling costs are a primary bottleneck.”
Challenges and Future Prospects
While the potential benefits of using materials grown in space are promising, several hurdles still need to be cleared. The extremely high cost of launching anything into low earth orbit makes doing so all the more challenging. For example, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 now charges about $1,500 per kilogram for launches. This exorbitant price tag means moving materials between the surface of the Earth and space is prohibitively expensive.
Matt Francis commented on the evolving landscape of semiconductor production costs: “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.” He stressed that the current approach of sending materials to space was viable when costs were exorbitant. Coupled with the growingly competitive cost of production on Earth we’ve found ourselves at an unforeseen disadvantage.
Western is convinced that yields can be massively increased by using space-grown substrates. Like, maybe, boosting yields for cutting-edge AI chips from 50 percent to 90 percent, making their cost in the launch a rounding error relative to the increase in overall value produced.
“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.” – E. Steve Putna
Space Forge is excited for what is to come on our next missions. Their team is passionate about GaN’s potential and realizing how space manufacturing can lead miraculous breakthroughs in all sectors.