Space Forge, a UK-based tech-pioneering aerospace company, has successfully powered on an orbital furnace mounted on its ForgeStar-1 satellite. The goal of this unique experiment is to obtain high-quality crystals of semiconductors in microgravity. Today’s announcement is a big step towards the possible future use of materials grown in space for use in high-end electronic applications. The furnace produces a blast of maybe half-a-million-degree plasma. It’s focused primarily on growing seed crystals for fabricating large-diameter single crystal substrates of gallium and aluminum nitride, or silicon carbide, on Earth.
The ForgeStar-1 satellite will disintegrate as it re-enters into Earth’s atmosphere. Space Forge is already preparing to bring home its first cargo of space-grown crystals on a second follow-up mission. Past experiments from 1973 to 2016 found that over 160 unique semiconductor crystals grown in microgravity had improved characteristics. Those crystals were 86 percent larger, more uniform, and showed superior performance over their Earth-grown counterparts.
The Promise of Microgravity
The microgravity environment aboard the ForgeStar-1 satellite creates a rare condition where crystal growth can be accelerated and improved in ways not possible on Earth. As per industry specialists, this situation provides a “improved head start” to crystal development ensuring standardized progress situations.
Joshua Western, co-founder of a technology firm specializing in semiconductor materials, stated, “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 decreased density means not as many contaminants can fit, making way for purer materials.
Despite this excitement, skeptics are not sold on the idea that producing any kind of bulk materials in space is practical. Anne Wilson, a materials scientist, explained that microgravity may not be well-suited for producing large quantities of material. She said it may make sense to invest in the development of niche materials targeted to specific applications. This view illustrates the rift that exists even among the scientific community about the feasibility of space-based manufacturing.
Economic Considerations and Market Dynamics
The economic landscape for semiconductor production has changed utterly within the last several years. As Matt Francis, CEO of Ozark Integrated Circuits, has pointed out, the price of kristal substrates have crashed. “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 explained.
This drop in prices has discouraged infrastructure operators from making new investments in the pricier space-grown crystals. Francis went on to explain that “when they were a prized commodity, perhaps sending to space was a smart decision. Even though the cost of space is going down, it’s not going down faster than the cost of being able to produce wafers. This financial dynamic creates a tremendous headwind for companies like Space Forge. They work to create a market for their cutting-edge products.
Even with these challenges, some experts think that crystal grown in space can be a huge benefit. E. Steve Putna stated, “There is potential for significant energy savings, perhaps as much as 50 percent within large infrastructure installations such as 5G towers.” He added that these materials could be “a game-changer for AI data centers where cooling costs are a primary bottleneck.”
Potential Advantages and Future Applications
The advantages of using space-grown crystals go further than energy savings. Research has shown that these materials can have an order of magnitude greater electron mobility than their terrestrial-grown equivalents. Putna clarified that this added mobility could mean an increase in switching efficiency of 20 to 40 percent for electronic devices.
He elaborated on the potential impact of space-grown substrates: “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.” Continued progress in this area could transform several industries by increasing processing speed and lowering the cost of operations.
Given these advantages, companies like Space Forge are set to reach for the stars as the next frontier in semiconductor manufacturing is found beyond earth’s atmosphere. This successful retrieval and analysis of the crystals collected during the ForgeStar-1 experimental mission might provide groundbreaking knowledge. These discoveries could be crucial for creating next-gen electronics using materials grown in space.