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.
Source: Space Forge
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.
And recently it generated plasma aboard its ForgeStar-1 satellite, marking a world-first for commercial in-space manufacturing and a significant step when it comes to producing a new class of high-performance semiconductor materials from space.
The company claims it is the first free-flying commercial semiconductor manufacturing tool ever operated in space.
The plasma demonstration confirms that the extreme conditions needed for gas-phase crystal growth, a core building block of semiconductor production, can now be created and controlled on an autonomous platform in low Earth orbit .
It is the first time a commercial spacecraft has demonstrated this capability, building on science carried out on board the International Space Station.
Joshua Western, CEO and co-founder of Space Forge, said, “It proves that the essential environment for advanced crystal growth can be achieved on a dedicated, commercial satellite – opening the door to a completely new manufacturing frontier.”
Manufacturing semiconductors in space offers significant benefits, it is argued, due to the absence of gravity-induced defects. This can serve to improve material quality.
By reducing defects, space manufacturing should in theory improve the number of usable chips per wafer, improving overall production yield and potentially lowering costs in the long term once scaled.
But the challenges are many: logistical complexity, high costs and technical hurdles related to operating in microgravity and extreme environments, and ensuring ultra-high purity and quality control.
Plus of course all raw materials, including bulk and specialty industrial gases, must be transported from Earth, which is extremely expensive and complex.
Then there are the gases’ properties. Hydrogen and helium leak more easily due to their low atomic size and the lack of gravity to help contain them.
Traditional liquid-gas separation methods often rely on gravity and would need a complete re-engineering of the systems.
Next to this, highly reactive, toxic, or pyrophoric (spontaneously flammable) gases like silane require robust containment systems that are difficult to manage and maintain in space.
Semiconductor manufacturing demands the highest possible purity levels (99.9999% or higher) for process gases; even the slightest impurity can ruin a batch. Maintaining this level of cleanliness and monitoring for defects in a remote space environment, with potential floating contaminants, is a significant challenge.
Watch: AI, semiconductors and space: the industries behind growing helium demand