Space Forge has made notable strides towards establishing in-orbit manufacturing. They just triggered an orbital furnace on their ForgeStar-1 satellite. This groundbreaking endeavor will, for the first time, leverage the extraordinary microgravity environment of space to manufacture high-quality semiconductor crystals. Space Forge guns a super-hot plasma stream to demonstrate the power of producing advanced materials in space. This remarkable advance opens the door to the fabrication of novel and miniaturized next-generation electronic devices.
That’s according to the company’s co-founder and CEO, Joshua Western, who is quick to highlight the benefits of developing crystals in the vacuum of space. Above 500 kilometers, by contrast, nitrogen levels plunge to almost nothing. This low presence is key for forming near-ideal semiconductor materials. This innovative approach could potentially unlock the production of gallium and aluminum nitride or silicon carbide substrates that are essential for modern electronics.
The Technology Behind Space Forge’s Furnace
ForgeStar-1’s primary experiment consists of a flying furnace, specially configured to produce and study rare deposition ‘seed’ crystals. These mono crystalline substrates are then used to grow highly ordered thin film crystals that are subsequently used in diverse electronic applications. The furnace’s controlled environment provides ideal conditions for crystal growth, harnessing the smaller forces of gravity experienced in space. On Earth, gravity can make this process a challenge, resulting in an imperfect crystal growing.
Space Forge’s furnace is a clear technological leap as it will have far greater control over the manufacturing environment. Chief among these is the essential role that this capability serves in creating superconductor crystals. Through the discovery of such crystals, electronic devices could be made dramatically more efficient. The company aims to prove that it can consistently create and maintain the ideal conditions necessary for this intricate chemical process.
In its upcoming operational phase, the ForgeStar-1 will be deploying a heat shield, which will form a part of its de-orbit maneuver. This unique feature, referred to as the Payload Re-Entry System (PRS), is meant to protect the satellite and payload during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. From those initial crystals, the first batch grown in space will be returned to Earth. In 2024, a follow-up mission will launch to build on this revolutionary research.
Implications for the Electronics Industry
If Space Forge’s pioneering efforts here are successful, they could have profound implications for the electronics industry. The company estimates that the production of one kilogram of space-grown semiconductor material could result in several tons of mass production. Earthbound manufacturers could make tons of advanced devices out of it! This scalability potential underscores the promise of space-based manufacturing to revolutionize how electronic components are produced, opening up new workflows and possibilities.
Mason and other industry experts expect the in-orbit manufacturing market to be a whopping $28.19 billion by 2034. Space Forge is among a number of companies exploring this thrilling new frontier. These companies are all convinced that materials produced in space can lead to super-efficient, future-defining electronics. As these technologies continue to advance, these new technologies will be able to offer marked benefits compared to conventional manufacturing processes.
Additionally, successfully operating a free-flying commercial satellite with an autonomous payload is a first for Space Forge. This accomplishment represents a major move towards technological innovation. More broadly, it underscores a turn toward more creative applications of materials science and smarter manufacturing processes.
Future Prospects and Developments
Looking to the future, Space Forge’s highly ambitious outlook has plans to broaden and diversify its capabilities in producing space-grown materials. The company’s research and development team works to further perfect the specialized processes necessary to manufacture semiconductors. They are always iterating on their methods and technologies. They hope that this leads to improved quality and better use of taxpayer dollars in their materials produced.
The upcoming second follow-on mission will further scale and validate the processes that were set up during this first-run-in-nascent-phase. Space Forge has even bigger ambitions to return further samples and data from more fully-fabricated space-grown crystals. Their hope is to capture lessons learned that will inform better projects to come. This iterative approach will ensure that they can adapt and improve their methods continuously.