Space Forge Ships Tech to the US for In-Space Advanced Manufacturing

In preparation for an upcoming In-Space Advanced Manufacturing (ISAM) mission, UK-based startup Space Forge has officially shipped its ForgeStar-1 satellite to the US. The work aims to harness space’s extreme conditions to create materials unavailable here on the blue planet.

“This is the moment we’ve been working towards. This upcoming in-orbit mission is more than just a test flight – it’s a critical step toward building an entire infrastructure that can support us back on Earth with space-made materials,” stated Joshua Western, CEO and Co-founder of Space Forge. “With this mission laying the groundwork, the next is all systems go for commercial manufacturing – returning materials that will transform entire industries.”

The company’s first rendition of the microwave-sized in-space manufacturing satellite, titled Forgestar-0, launched on a Virgin Orbit rocket in January 2023. However, a failure of the spacecraft’s fuel filter caused Forgestar-0 and several other research satellites to land in the Atlantic Ocean rather than orbit.

Space Forge recreated the platform as ForgeStar-1, planning to ship it off to the US for a mission in early 2024. Though undisclosed factors delayed the launch, the company has confirmed that the ForgeStar-1 is finally making its way overseas.

ForgeStar-1 will be sent up to space later this year for its first ISAM test. The mission aims to confirm that “high-performance semiconductor materials can be manufactured in space and safely returned to Earth.” To do so, it will utilize the microgravity, extreme temperatures, and vacuum of space that Earth cannot replicate.

While compound semiconductors, which are essential for many electronics, can be and currently are manufactured on Earth, the process is slow, expensive, and energy-intensive. Space is a completely new ball game.

"Producing compound semiconductors is a very intense and very slow process, they are literally grown by atoms," explained Western. "And so gravity has a profound effect, basically shifting the bonds between those atoms. In space you're able to overcome that barrier, because there's an absence of gravity."

FMI: www.spaceforge.com