Beyond gravity’s pull: orbital chipmaking is better in space

The space industry is a growing consumer of industrial gases, but in one surprising respect the opportunity could be growing in a new direction. That’s because a new opportunity is emerging in space that relates to the making of materials for another industry served by industrial gases: semiconductor manufacturing.

UK-based startup Space Forge is one firm taking this on. In October, it trialled deployment of a novel heat shield, Pridwen, on a zero gravity flight, which followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding with United Semiconductors, a leading specialist in bulk crystal growth of III-V semiconductor compounds.

Meanwhile, another partnership from Intuitive Machines aims to integrate its semiconductor manufacturing payload into Intuitive Machines’ orbital return platform Zephyr under Intuitive Machines’ Earth Reentry Programme.