Space Forge, an innovative company focused on leveraging space for material manufacturing, has recently made significant strides in the field of orbital manufacturing. Their mission to create new high-performance materials in the space environment, for example, could upend the entire electronics industry. This unprecedented effort included a first-of-its-kind free-flying commercial satellite. It managed to run and even manufacture itself without any human involvement.
The firm’s latest milestone was the activation of one such orbital furnace on its ForgeStar-1 satellite in mid-December 2023. This furnace’s super plasma—a continuous plume of incredibly hot plasma—is key to creating high-quality, near-ideal semiconductor crystals. These space-grown crystals will be used as high-quality substrates for gallium and aluminum nitride. Together with silicon carbide, they are the key materials in the making of next-generation, high-performance power devices.
Joshua Western, co-founder and CEO of Space Forge, noted a crucial aspect of their mission: the satellite is designed to perish during its re-entry to Earth. As a result, Space Forge will only be able to retrieve its first batch of space-grown crystals on a follow-up mission. Yet this strategic approach points out some of the challenges and complexities in undertaking space manufacturing.
The Advantages of Space-Grown Materials
There are amazing benefits to manufacturing materials in orbit. These benefits are due in large part to the unique microgravity environment that can only be found there. A meta-analysis study published in the journal Nature in 2024 revealed that 86 percent of space-grown semiconductor crystals outperformed their Earth-grown counterparts in terms of size, uniformity, and overall performance.
E. Steve Putna, interim director of the Texas A&M Semiconductor Institute, noted that crystals grown in space have much higher electron mobility. This improved attribute has the potential to greatly improve switching performance. In fact, you might expect a yield boost of 20-40 percent over crops grown with more terrestrial conventional materials. Our microgravity platform offers an unparalleled environment for crystal formation, delivering more consistent growth conditions and superior results.
Space Forge wants to uniquely develop the highest-performing materials that fundamentally transform several industries. These cutting-edge materials promise to allow new types of ultrafast optical networks and spark revolutionary discoveries in pharmaceutical research. Predictive analytics alone open up immeasurable possibilities. This is a watershed moment for technology.
Economic Implications and Industry Challenges
Even with the promise of space-grown materials, an unfavorable economic landscape is one challenge Space Forge and other emerging companies will have to work through. According to analysts, the in-orbit manufacturing market will skyrocket to over $28.19 billion by 2034. This growth is indicative of the increasing demand for this innovative field. Launching materials into space remains costly. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carries up the last mile of small payloads to low Earth orbit. It does so at an exceptionally low cost – estimated at just $1,500 per kilogram.
The Path Forward for Space Forge
Space Forge isn’t the only company trying to unlock the potential of manufacturing in space. The firm has flown several orbital flights to validate its reentry technology and has more tests lined up this year. Further, each successful flight gets them incrementally closer to realizing their vision of producing high-performance materials in space.
The ForgeStar-1 satellite will deploy a unique type of plasma-based heat shield, as part of its de-orbit maneuver later this year. This novel technology ensures the safety of the satellite as it makes its reentry back to Earth. This gives Space Forge the best chance of returning the most valuable data and materials from its missions successfully.
As businesses begin to realize the potential of manufacturing in-orbit, Space Forge is leading the way for this exciting new frontier. They are capitalizing on the one-of-a-kind benefits of microgravity and using cutting-edge technology to create new materials more efficiently. This remarkable advancement opens doors for new kinds of high-performance electronics and transformative applications.